Niki (Austria) (Vienna) will end its only medium haul service during the first quarter of next year Austrian Aviation Net has revealed.

The carrier's last Vienna-Abu Dhabi International, United Arab Emirates flight is currently scheduled for March 6, 2017.

As previously reported, Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) will sell its 49.8% stake in Niki to Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) for EUR300 million (USD318 million). Thereafter, the Emirati carrier will then contribute this shareholding to a new European leisure airline group in which it will own 25%, TUI AG 24.8%, and the NIKI Privatstiftung foundation holding the remaining 50.2%.

The new carrier's fleet will constitute five B737-700s and thirty-two B737-800s (courtesy TUI fly (Germany) (X3, Hannover)) and twenty-one A321-200s courtesy Air Berlin.

Niki will also assume the operation of all Air Berlin's contracts serving certain leisure destinations in Southern Europe (excluding Italy, but including the Canary Islands and Madeira), North Africa, and Turkey effective summer 2017.