KARLSRUHE, Germany: Niki, the Austrian arm of collapsed Air Berlin, has filed an appeal with Germany’s supreme court against a lower court ruling that has put at risk a deal for Niki to be bought by British Airways owner IAG.
The appeal was filed on Monday, a spokeswoman for the federal court said, after a regional court said Niki’s insolvency should have been filed in Austria, not Germany, and that it would reverse the decision to open proceedings in Berlin.
“The case will be handled swiftly,” she said on Tuesday.
Niki filed for insolvency in Berlin last month after Germany’s Lufthansa scrapped plans to buy the Austrian airline, grounding its fleet and stranding thousands of passengers.
After hurried talks to find a new owner for Niki before it lost its valuable runway slots, IAG agreed to buy the business and make it part of low-cost unit Vueling.
But Fairplane, a group representing airline passengers, said last week it had filed legal cases to have the insolvency proceedings for Niki shifted to Austria.
The head of Niki’s works council, Stefan Tankovits, said on Tuesday he was optimistic that IAG would remain on board and the deal for it to buy Niki would still go through.
Niki had no immediate comment. IAG declined to comment.
Airline Niki takes insolvency row to German federal court
Airline Niki takes insolvency row to German federal court
