Ryanair says decided against bidding for Niki assets

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair has decided against bidding for assets of insolvent Austrian airline Niki, the Irish airline said on Thursday.

Niki filed for insolvency last week after Germany’s Lufthansa , which is buying other parts of Air Berlin , scrapped plans to buy Niki, grounding the airline’s fleet and stranding thousands of passengers.

“Regrettably there is insufficient clarity about Lufthansa aircraft leases to Niki which we couldn’t resolve in time,” Ryanair said in an emailed statement.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Writing by Conor Humphries)