Austria will repatriate any stranded Niki passengers, ministry says

VIENNA (Reuters) - The Austrian government has agreed to repatriate any passengers of Air Berlin unit Niki stranded abroad by cancelled return flights, a Transport Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

Lufthansa has abandoned plans to buy Niki after the European Commission told Lufthansa that it would not allow the deal, meaning Niki could join the list of Europe's collapsed airlines this year.

"(Chancellery Minister Thomas) Drozda, (Finance Minister Hans Joerg) Schelling and (Transport Minister Joerg) Leichtfried agreed to repatriate stranded passengers as quickly as possible," the spokesman said.

"The repatriation offer applies to any Niki flights that have been cancelled due to the current situation, independent of any insolvency," he added.

Several Niki flights scheduled for Thursday have been cancelled but those cancellations were long-standing and unrelated to any insolvency, a Vienna Airport spokesman said.

(Reporting by Kirsti Knolle)