The board of German travel conglomerate TUI Group has given its consent to the proposed merger between its TUI fly (Germany) (X3, Hannover) unit and Niki (Austria) (Vienna), Air Berlin's Austrian production company.

As recently reported, although the two carriers will be part of a new joint holding company branded "Blue Sky" and incorporated in Hannover, they will continue to operate under separate AOCs.

Operationally, Niki will contribute nineteen aircraft and TUIffly thirty along with an additional fourteen B737-700s and B737-800s it currently leases out to Air Berlin.

The new company will be 24.8% owned by TUI, 25% by Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) and the remaining 50.2% will be controlled by an Austrian foundation - NIKI Privatstiftung - that currently controls Niki.

Quoting company sources, Bloomberg news reports that as part of the transaction, Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) is seeking a cash injection from its largest shareholder, Etihad, which owns 29.%. However, according to German law, exceeding 30% would require the Emiratis to submit a takeover bid.