Airlines Austrian Airlines expands fleet at Vienna

The airline published, that a total of four additional aircraft will be stationed at Vienna Airport. According to Austrian Airlines, the aircraft will be deployed for short- and mid-haul flights throughout Europe.

Over the course of a wet lease agreement between SWISS and Austrian Airlines, four Bombardier DH8-Q400 aircraft will join the carrier´s fleet. The aircraft are being integrated into Austrian Airlines´ fleet to strengthen the route network of Austria´s biggest airline.

All aircraft have been previously flying with Austrian Airlines and will now be relocated from Switzerland to Austria. One aircraft has already successfully returned, with the other three aircraft to return to Austrian Airlines in the first half of 2019.

In recent months, Vienna Airport saw low-cost carriers like Wizz and LEVEL start their operations. With the fleet additions, Austrian Airlines now seeks to make life difficult for low-cost carriers at the Airport.

Andreas Otto, Chief Commercial Officer of Austrian Airlines confirmed: “We will not make it easy for the low cost carriers at Vienna Airport [...] We are well prepared when it comes to service and very well positioned with our worldwide route network.”

The aircraft will especially boost Austrian Airlines´ summer flight schedule in 2019. This decision follows the successful expansion of the route network throughout the winter flight schedule 2018. This winter, the carrier added 40 additional flights to 14 destinations. Between January and October, Austrian Airlines has flown a total of 11.9 million passengers, representing a year-on-year rise of 8.9 percent.

Austrian Airlines is the flag carrier of Austria and operates with a fleet of 84 aircraft. Seven Airbus A319s, 23 A320s, six A321s, six Boeing 767s, 6 777s, 18 Dash 8-400s and 17 Embraer 195s belong to the fleet. The carrier is part of the Lufthansa Group and member in the Star Alliance.