BERLIN: Ryanair plans to buy a stake in new Austrian leisure carrier Laudamotion, helping former motor racing champion Niki Lauda to get the airline up and running and giving the Irish carrier a bigger presence in Germany and Austria. Ryanair has agreed to buy an initial 24.9 per cent stake in Laudamotion, formed out of insolvent carrier Niki which was part of Air Berlin, and plans for that to rise to 75 per cent “as soon as possible”, subject to EU approval. The Irish budget carrier will invest less than 50 million euros (Dh226,62 million; $61.7 million), though will provide an additional 50 million euros in funding for start-up and operating costs in the first year. (Reuters)