As the company has grown in size, it has expanded its operations to include charter flights under two subsidiary companies: Lauda Air and Slovak Airlines. Lauda Air, originally founded by the Austrian Formula One racer Andreas Nikolaus, became a part of Austrian Airlines in 1997 and flew long haul flights to Australia and Asia from Vienna. Before the merger, Lauda Air was one of Austrian Airlines main competitors flying out of Vienna; therefore, in an effort to reduce costs and increase business operations the company decided to purchase the airline.(Funding Universe, 2009) Austrian Airlines purchased a majority share in Slovak Airlines, but eventually had to withdraw their financial support as the Slovakian government did not live up to their partnership agreements.(Austrian Airlines, 2007) The company owns another fully owned subsidiary called Tyrolean Airways which they have re-named Austrian arrows which offers passenger flights. Austrian Arrows operates 50,000 regional flights a year from its headquarters in Innsbruck, Austria, in order to complement Lauda Air and Austrian Airlines medium and long haul flights. Austrian Airlines owns a number of other subsidiary companies that offer many services such as consulting, operating electronic travel distribution systems used by many travel agencies, and airline leasing. (LinkedIn, 2009)