Etihad board nods venture leisure airline with TUI AG-statement

Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 5 (Reuters) - Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) said on Monday its board has approved plans to create a joint venture leisure airline with Europe's TUI AG (LSE: 0NLA.L - news) .

EAG, the holding company of Abu Dhabi airline Etihad Airways, said in a statement its subsidiary acquired a 49.8 percent in Austrian carrier Niki from Air Berlin (LSE: 0GPE.L - news) as part of the deal.

Etihad will hold a 25 percent stake in the leisure airline with TUI AG holding 24.8 percent, the Abu Dhabi airline said, adding that the remaining 50.2 percent will continue to be held by Austrian foundation NIKI Privatstiftung.

($1 = 0.9387 euros) (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, editing by Hadeel Al Sayegh)