A route to Vienna kicked off on Sunday – the first of four new connections to capital cities on the continent.

IAG is setting up a base in Austria to compete with Ryanair, easyJet, Eurowings, Laudamotion and WizzAir.

Deutsche Bahn dropped the much-loved sleeper services last year, but now Austrian Railways is stepping in.

IAG is making another move away from the traditional airline model of its British Airways and Iberia brands.

In addition, the low-cost giant says it is willing to raise its investment in the former Niki to €120 million.

Ryanair looks to increase its presence in Germany and Austria as it puts forward a plan to buy 75% of Laudamotion.

Six Schengen zone countries plan to extend border controls by a further six months.

The Lufthansa subsidiary is forced to axe 140 flights as negotiations with employees commence.

Stockholm-Vienna will take on SAS’s Austrian route. Wizz will also fly to Vienna from Malmö, Keflavik, Billund and Bergen.

But results for Q4 worry industry analysts that it and other airlines are expanding capacity too quickly.

The former racing driver wins bidding for Niki, the airline he founded in 2003.

Lufthansa Group as a whole carried 130 million passengers in 2017

Air France and Wizz Air announce fresh expansions

Largest growth in cabin crew with 4,000 new employees

Are IAG and Vueling the deal’s only winners?

Former owner says Lufthansa is blocking Niki’s sale