Beginning September 1, 2015, passengers who book their Lufthansa Group airline tickets via ‘GDS’ outlets will be assessed a €16/$18 surcharge.
‘GDS’ or Global Distribution System tickets are the tickets that are booked through travel agents or online portals such as Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, etc.
The surcharge is being added due to increases in expenses associated with GDS tickets. Lufthansa Group’s expense incurred with GDS tickets runs into the hundreds of millions of Euro each year due to the expense of the distribution network (fees and commissions paid to the vendors).
Tickets purchased through a Lufthansa Group Airline’s website, service center or ticket counter at the airport will not be subject to this surcharge. This applies to Lufthansa, Brussels, Austrian, SWISS, and Germanwings/Eurowings websites.
Beginning September 10, Austrian will launch daily service between Vienna and Manchester. This will compliment the 28 flights that already take place between Vienna and London each week.
The route will be flown by Fokker aircraft and will operate on the following schedule:
OS 463 will depart Vienna at 9:50am, arriving in Manchester at 11:20a.
OS 464 will depart Manchester at 1:10p, arriving in Vienna at 4:30p.
Beginning in 2016, Passengers travelling on Austrian will notice a subtle, yet obvious change to the uniforms that will be worn by Cabin Crew and other OS employees who typically wear uniforms.
The new uniforms retain some of the current look and red will continue to be the main color of most outfits. However, the new style takes on an edgier and more modern look thanks to the vision of Vienna native Marina Hoermanseder whose design was selected by OS.
At stake, however, is the decision on whether or not the red shoes or stockings continue to be part of the uniform. AUSTRIAN has asked their female employees who wear the uniform to vote on whether or not to continue with red shoes and stockings when the new uniforms are introduced.
A sneak peak at the new look along with a behind the scenes video featuring the designer and the photo shoot:
