by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 25, 2015 | Austrian, Featured, Fleet Update |
Austrian’s first ERJ is set to arrive in Vienna later this week after spending the last few weeks at Austrian Technik’s satellite in Bratislava (BTS). The ERJ195 was painted in BTS and will now take a 5 minute flight from BTS to Vienna on October 31.
Austrian’s ERJ195
After arriving in VIE, the aircraft will undergo additional cabin renovations and will be used for pilot and cabin crew training before entering service in January. OE-LWD, as she is registered, will also be christened on November 13 in Vienna and will be given her ‘nickname’.
16 additional ERJ195 aircraft will join the OS fleet as they are transferred away from Lufthansa’s Cityline fleet. All of them will sport the ‘myAustrian’ livery as well.
The transfer of all the new ERJs should be complete by early 2017 and they will replace the Fokker aircraft currently in the OS fleet.
Perhaps I’ll have a chance to stop by the BTS facility in November and take a look at the next ERJ as it is being prepared……
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 19, 2015 | Austrian, Featured, On Board Experience, Passenger Experience |
AUSTRIAN has announced that it has begun work to update and upgrade their current Business Class cabin on their Airbus A319, A320, and A321 aircraft. In all, 29 aircraft will feature the new look.
Over the course of the next 2 years, the Business Class cabins for these aircraft will be upgraded with improved seat cushions as well as increased legroom. Currently, the Business Class cabin seat pitch is 30 inches, just at it is for Economy but this will increase to 32 inches. This marks the first time that a narrow body business class cabin will actually have a different seat pitch than the rest of the aircraft’s seats.
Traditionally, short and medium haul Business Class cabins for Austrian (as well as for the Lufthansa Group & most major European airlines) meant that you had the same type of seat as an economy passenger, but the middle seat would be left open giving passengers a bit more room. A curtain hanging from the luggage bins would act as the divider between Business and Economy class seats. For Austrian, this now goes away and in essence they are creating a dedicated Business Class cabin for their narrow body aircraft. However, the middle seat will continue to be left open.
All this new space was found by decreasing the size of storage and galley areas on the aircraft.
At the same time, Austrian also has announced that it will reduce the seat pitch on their A319 and A320 aircraft from 30 inches to 29 inches. According to OS, this brings them in line with European standards but at the same time will also allow Austrian to install an additional row in Economy Class.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 13, 2015 | Austrian, Featured, Route Announcements |
Beginning on April 4, 2016, Austrian will begin service between Vienna and Shanghai, China.
As it stands now, OS will fly between the 2 cities 5 times a week and will use their 777 aircraft on the route. Flights will depart Vienna at 1:20p and will depart Shanghai at 10:50a (local times).
Courtesy: GCMap.com
The outbound flight will be OS75 and will taken approximately 10 1/2 hours, while the return flight will be OS76 with a scheduled flight time of approximately 11 1/2 hours.
The route is open for booking.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 9, 2015 | Austrian, Business Class, Featured, On Board Experience, Passenger Experience |
Last week, Austrian’s CCO Andreas Otto was in New York to visit colleagues at Austrian’s offices and provided his insights on the airline and what the future will bring to OS.
As part of his comments, he suggested that a new Business Class cabin is on the way for Austrian’s long haul aircraft. His plans called for the retrofit to be completed by 2020 and would include any 767, 777s and A350s that could or would be in the fleet at that time. Maybe I missed something along the way, but I did not think OS was getting any A350s.
Regardless, I look forward to what the new Business Class concept will be from OS. It feels like only yesterday that the current Business Class cabins were introduced.
Stay tuned. I’m certain theres a lot more coming on this topic.
On another topic, he also mentioned SFO and LAX may be next on OS’ radar….but nothing definite at this point.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 9, 2015 | Austrian, Featured, On Board Experience, Passenger Experience |
AUSTRIAN has quietly introduced extremely strict monitoring of Carry On luggage at their hub in Vienna and at gateways throughout Europe. According to OS, this is in direct response to the new fare concepts (Light/Classic/Flex) that were launched on October 1 that are specific to the European market.
Specifically in Vienna, enforcement of the carry on policy will take place just before the Boarding Pass Control Gates in Terminal 3. Similar methods will be put in place throughout OS’ Euro network. The scrutiny will be ‘Pass/Fail’. Either your bag fits and you can proceed, or it doesn’t and you will be forced to check the bag for a cost if your fare class does not allow for a free checked bag.
OS says this is being done to ensure cabin safety and expedited boarding. However looking through those comments, it comes down to revenue. I have no doubt that the ‘Light’ fare option will by far be the most popular fare class under the new program. ‘Light’ is the only fare class out of the 3 that has a fee for checking a bag, so it only makes sense that OS wants to stop people circumventing the luggage policy by having ‘slighty’ non compliant carry on luggage taken on board. If it was about safety and expedited boarding the policy would have been strictly enforced for years.
Regardless of class, any passenger wishing to board an OS flight for travel within Europe will be forced to comply. The policy for baggage size has always been there, but now it looks as though revenue models are forcing it to be enforced. In short, EVERY bag is now subject to the scrutiny.
Be mindful if you are arriving to VIE from a transcontinental destination. Your bag might have been allowed on a 777 or 767 but it will be subject to the new scrutiny if you are connecting onward on an OS flight from VIE, you’ll need to pay to check the bag if it doesn’t fit the carry on luggage sizer.
