Austrian airline Niki has filed for bankruptcy protection after German carrier Lufthansa withdrew its takeover bid for the former Air Berlin subsidiary amid antitrust concerns voiced by the European Union.

A court in Berlin said Wednesday that Niki had applied to open insolvency proceedings, with the Austrian airline seeking to carry out procedures under its own administration. Although parent Air Berlin already filed for insolvency in August, Niki, which has a fleet of 21 Airbus aircraft, was not part of the proceedings.

Niki’s decision came after German flag carrier Lufthansa said earlier it was abandoning its efforts to acquire Niki, citing persistent objections by EU antitrust regulators against a possible tie-up between the two airlines.

“Lufthansa informed Air Berlin and its insolvency managers that it will pursue the planned transaction without the purchase of Niki,” Lufthansa said in a statement.

Niki website says “several airlines are currently looking into solutions for bringing back passengers on standby-basis for a small fee from abroad destinations back to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. To our regret, TUIfly will not participate in this solution.”

Eurowings started a rescue service for passengers who has a NIKI flight 14 – 31 December 2017.  Eurowings will give a 50% refund for affected passengers after buying Eurowings flight.

Source: Niki