Niki Lauda was born on 22 February 1949, the son of a respected family of industrialists from Vienna.

He bought his first VW convertible for the price of ATS 1,500 at the age of 15: in addition to taking his A-levels at the sixth-form college, he served an apprenticeship as a car mechanic.

1968: First race in a Mini Cooper S in Mühllacken: 2nd place, start of a meteoric Formula 1 career.

1971: Start of his career as Formula 1 racing driver.

1974–77: Drives for Ferrari.

1975: Formula 1 World Champion for Ferrari.

1.8.1976: Accident on the Nürburgring. Returns to the cockpit 30 days later.

1977: Formula 1 World Champion for the second time for Ferrari.

1979: Always fascinated by flying, Niki Lauda establishes Lauda Air, and retires from Formula 1.

1982: Return to Formula 1, i.e. to the McLaren team.

1984: 3rd Formula 1 World Championship title – this time for McLaren.

1985: Definitive retirement from the field of motor sports, turns his attention towards aviation.

1992-1997: Consulting activity for Ferrari.

1979: Lauda Air is founded with two Fokker 27s.

1979-82: The attempt at further expanding Lauda Air fails due to the monopoly position of Austrian Airlines, Austria’s national carrier. Lauda Air leases out the two Fokker 27s, and concentrates exclusively on the private flights business.

1985: Start of the successful cooperation with Basile Varvaressos and his tour operator ITAS, start of the charter business. ITAS soon extends its Greece programme to include Spain, the Canary Islands and long-haul destinations, Lauda Air buys two Boeing 737-300s in order to comply with the carrying capacities of the number of sun-seeking passengers.

1986: Sharp upward trend, and request for scheduled flight concession.

1987: Do&Co takes over the catering of Lauda Air.

1988: Green light for scheduled flights to the Far East with the first Boeing 767-300 ER to join the Lauda Air fleet.

1994: In March, Lauda Air starts its flights to the European destinations of Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels, Geneva, Manchester and Stockholm with the new Canadair Regional Jets.

1997: Strategic cooperation between Austrian Airlines, Lauda Air and Lufthansa. The first Boeing 777 joins the Lauda Air fleet, and includes the routes Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the Baltic cities of Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, Rumanian Temesvar as well as Verona and Hamburg in its regular services for the first time.

November 2000: Niki Lauda sells his shares in Lauda Air to Austrian Airlines, and retires as CEO.

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