777 | Lufthansa Flyer

AUSTRIAN Opens Premium Economy Booking & Begins Fleet Retrofit

by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 6, 2017 | 767, 777, Amenity Kit, Austrian, Featured, Premium Economy | 1 comment

Austrian has announced that their first 767 slated for the upgrade to a Premium Economy cabin is now in the shop and the update has begun. At the same time, Austrian has now opened Premium Economy booking for all of their long haul flights scheduled for March 6, 2018 and onward.

The seat is identical to the one found aboard Lufthansa long haul birds except that the seat colors match the Austrian cabin decor.

As with the current product found aboard LH, the Austrian Premium Economy experience will be nearly identical as far as seat pitch, baggage allowance, and dining is concerned:

Increased seat ‘pitch’ as compare to Economy
Foot rests
Amenity Kit
Fold old tables with dedicated arm-rests
12 inch IFE screen
One standard and one USB power port
Checked baggage allowance of 2 pieces at 23kg (50 lbs) each
Enhanced dining options
Welcome aboard drink

In all, 12 aircraft will be retrofitted between now and March 2018. Once the €15 million retrofit is complete, Austrian will offer a total of 252 Premium Economy seats on their long haul 767 and 777 aircraft.

I suspect during the next few months (until March 2018) while the upgrades are taking place, Economy Class passengers will be offered low-cost or free upgrades to Premium Economy seats. Miles & More Senators & HON Circle members may receive complimentary upgrades as well. This will be take place on a flight by flight basis while the fleet is being upgraded. At least this is what happened while LH was going through the process of upgrading their fleet.

AUSTRIAN Returns to Africa and Japan

by Lufthansa Flyer | Jul 6, 2017 | 777, Austrian, Featured, Route Announcements, Vienna | 0 comments

Austrian Airlines announced that it is set to return to two destinations next year.

Beginning with the Summer 2018 schedule, passengers will once again be able to fly Austrian from Vienna to Tokyo, Japan (Narita) and to Cape Town, South Africa. In their comments, Austrian suggests that market dynamics have once again made it lucrative to serve these long haul destinations. It also doesn’t hurt that they’ll be adding another Boeing 777 aircraft to the fleet next spring. At that point they’ll have 6 777 aircraft that can be deployed on their long haul routes.

Flights to Tokyo will begin first with 5 flights per week starting on May 15, 2018. Cape Town will be launched later in the year with 2 flights per week beginning on October 27, 2018.

AUSTRIAN Starts Los Angeles Service

by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 11, 2017 | 777, Austrian, Featured, Route Announcements | 1 comment

Seven months ago, Austrian first announced that it was planning to begin service this Spring between Vienna and Los Angeles.

Today, the first flights for the new route took place as OS81 departed for Los Angeles at 10:00a and the return flight (OS82) departed back to Vienna shortly after 3:00p.

The route will be flown 6 days a week (No flights on Sundays) by their 777 fleet and will be in place for Austrian’s summer timetable through October.

This brings Austrian’s total weekly flights to the USA to 37. In addition to the new LAX route, OS flies to Miami, New York JFK, Newark, Chicago, and Washington DC.