Overview
Founded back in 1957, Austrian Airlines is actually the official flag carrier airline of Austria. Both headquarters and hub are located in Vienna, Austria. With its major hub situated at the Vienna International Airport, Austrian Airlines actually has two subsidiaries – Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways. With Miles and More for its frequent flyer program, the airline’s member lounges are the Senator Lounge and the Business Class Lounge. Forming an alliance with Star Alliance, the airline operates a fleet size comprised of 41 aircrafts flying to more than destinations all over the world.
Company Profile and History
The airline’s maiden flight was launched back in March 1958. A Vickers Viscount 779 flew from Vienna to London, England, taking the route through Zurich. Austrian Airlines was actually the product of a merger between Austrian Airways and Air Austria. The airline’s domestic services were launched May 1, 1963, with transatlantic services launching April 1, 1969.
In 2000, Austrian Airlines joined the Star Alliance group and on that same year, it was able to acquire Lauda Air, as well as Rheintalflug the year after. It was in 2003 when its name was finally shortened to just Austrian.
Austrian Airlines is actually owned by ÖIAG, its floating stock, Austrian institutional investors, and Austrian Airlines itself. Moreover, the airline owns its subsidiaries wholly – Lauda Air and Austrian Arrows. The airline also owns 22.5% of the shares of Ukraine International Airlines and currently has over 8,400 people under its employ.
Austrian Airlines Fleet
The following aircraft models comprise the fleet of Austrian Airlines: the Airbus A319-114, Airbus A320-214, Airbus A321-111, Airbus A321-211, Boeing 737-600, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 767-300ER, and Boeing 777-200ER.
For long hauls to Canada, China, India, and the US, the Boeing 767-300ER model is actually used here. The same model is also used to handle medium hauls to both Israel and Dubai. For long hauls to Japan, Thailand, and still the US, the Boeing 777-200ER model is also used. The other aircraft models are used for just short and medium hauls.
Austrian Airlines Destinations
More focus is placed on the airline’s route network to the eastern portion of Europe as well as the Middle East. For the most part, the airline’s subsidiary Tyrolean operates this route network.
In 2006, Austrian Airlines dropped its A330 and A340 lineup, consisting of at least 4 different models of aircrafts. This was done to save approximately $51 million each year. Because of this, the airline also ha to suspend several long haul flights to Australia and East Asia. This was because there were not enough aircrafts to handle these flights anymore. Other terminated destinations included Shanghai, Phuket, Mauritius, Malé, Colombo, and Kathmandu.
