by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 28, 2013 | Airlines |
Austrian will be introducing it’s 3rd reconfigured aircraft today, a Boeing 777, when it departs this evening for Bangkok, Thailand. Austrian has already rolled out 1 767 and 1 777 with the new cabin and has plans to retrofit it’s entire long-haul fleet of aircraft with the vastly improved new interior including a state of the art In-Flight Entertainment system. Business and Economy class cabins received a complete overhaul and now offer passengers one of the nicest cabins in the sky!
Austrian has always been among the very best when it comes to on-board catering and hospitality. With the update of the “hard-product”, Austrian now provides one of the best travel experiences that you can find and is certainly one of the best options for travel between North America and Europe.
Today’s flight departs Vienna at 11:20p (CEST), the aircraft that is being re-introduced to day is OE-LPA also known as the “Sound Of Music”
Here are images (courtesy of Austrian) that highlight the beautiful new cabins:
The New Economy Seating
A Beautiful Business Class Interior
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 17, 2013 | Airlines |
Most may not be aware, but AUSTRIAN has their own blog called red|blog that focuses on the great things going on behind the scenes at the airline. Every few days they post interesting articles that give fans and passengers a unique perspective. Recently, with Austrian’s retrofitting of the cabins found in their long-haul fleet, the red|blog has been giving us a great look at the process.
Most airlines generally do not like showing their aircraft in a state of repair where you can see the “bowels” of the aircraft, since it suggests that something may be wrong with the aircraft, etc. Not AUSTRIAN! they give us full access to their facilities and show step by step how the new cabins are coming together. In fact, they’ve started a special “10 story special” that will take us through the retrofitting of their long haul airliners, the Boeing 767 and 777. This is a special treat for us “Avgeeks”!
In the first post of the series, they go into great detail with a lot of pictures showing one of their Boeing 777s being refit at their facility in Vienna. The posts shows us that it’s simply not just pulling out the hold seats and bolting in the new. It gets a little bit more complicated!
An example of the behind the scenes look that Austrian is giving us
The second post of the series takes a deeper look into the retrofit of the 777. In this installment, we learn that the retrofit of their 777 is the first time that an airline is installing the seating and Inflight Entertainment System (IFE) on a 777. Also learned in this post is the fact that there are approximately 1400 drawings of schematics involved with the installation, along with removal of 150kg of cabling from the previous IFE. It also shows the 777 “stepping” onto a scale to weigh it, so that proper weight distribution can be confirmed.
A sample of the schematics involved with the installation
The lastest entry in the series takes a look for the first time at the retrofit taking place on a 767. This 767 is being retrofitted at a facility in Shannon, Ireland and posts takes a special look at the interior coming together from it’s bare bones to fully furnished cabin.
The brand new Business Cabin aboard Austrian’s Boeing 767
I hope you enjoy reading through Austrian’s efforts thus far and also enjoy the great behind the scenes access that Austrian has given us into the commitment to improve their cabins. As they release more installments on their blog site, I’ll be sure to bring them to your attention.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Feb 14, 2013 | Airlines |
THE ECONOMY FARE SALE:
Lufthansa announced an economy fare sale today that provides some of the lowest fares that you will see to some of their destinations. For example, Washington to Istanbul is only $489. Recently Istanbul has been a fare “battle ground” among several airlines making it a great time to visit this wonderful city. My wife and I spent several days there last summer and had an absolutely wonderful time. Fares to Istanbul from most East Coast cities range from $489 to $550. From the west coast, most fares to Istanbul range in the mid $800’s. Be mindful that these fares will only earn you %50 percent of the miles you travel, so going to IST solely as a mileage run is not good “mile-running economics”. However, it is a great fare if you want to go see a great city!
Moscow is also attractively priced with fares staring from only $529 from the east coast and $960 from the west coast but again be careful regarding the miles that you will earn with these fares.
Terms and Conditions apply and are as follows:
Tickets must be purchased by March 12, 2013.
You must depart between February 21 and March 31, 2013.
You must return between February 24 and April 20, 2013.
Tickets must be purchased 7 days prior to travel.
Fares are valid for travel on Air Canada, Austrian, Brussels, Swiss, United or Lufthansa.
A Saturday night stay is required.
THE BUSINESS CLASS SALE:
At the same time, Lufthansa is also running a very decent Business Class fare sale. The best pricing for fares is found for travel departing from New York, with most fares ranging between $2700 and $2900. These fares are generally the lowest that you’ll see for Business Class on Lufthansa. Fares from other US gateways start in the low $3000’s and work their way up from there. For this fare sale, New York offers the best prices (Even beating Boston in this case). The business class fares are valid on Air Canada, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss or United. If you want my unsolicited advice, you’ll absolutely want to make sure that you are flying Austrian, Brussels, Lufthansa or Swiss. They’ll provide you with the best hospitality and product.
Terms and Conditions apply and are as follows:
Tickets must be purchased by March 6, 2013
You must depart between March 24 and April 5, 2013
You must return between March 31 and April 10, 2013
Tickets must be purchased 28 days prior to travel.
