Austrian Airlines’ plan of renewing its medium-to-short-haul fleet seems to be on track as the carrier received its second Airbus A320neo aircraft. The airline got the first of the four planes in September and aims to take deliveries of two more by early 2023.
Second A320neo
Austrian Airlines announced recently that it welcomed its second Airbus A320neo aircraft, which landed at Vienna Airport (VIE) on November 4th. The plane with the registration OE-LZO was picked up by an Austrian team from the Airbus factory in Toulouse and transferred to its new home. It will go through cabin refurbishment and a paint job in the coming weeks in preparation for commercial service.
Photo: Austrian Airlines
The airline said that, like the first A320neo, the second plane will also be named after an Austrian national park and will be operated in the future under the name “Seewinkel.”
Austrian hopes to make its operations more economical as the latest generation A320 aircraft is up to 20% more fuel-efficient and 50% quieter. With its Airspace Cabin, Airbus says that the new A320s offer more personal space and a larger capacity for hand luggage.
Fleet renewal
The latest delivery is part of Austrian Airlines’ narrowbody fleet renewal plan. The Lufthansa Group carrier stated earlier this year that it was taking an important step towards modernization and renewal of its short-to-medium haul aircraft and will integrate a total of four A320neos into its existing fleet by spring 2023.
Austrian plans to deploy these new planes on premium continental routes. Initially, these will include London (LHR), Amsterdam (AMS), and Frankfurt (FRA). The first A320neo started commercial service on October 20th with a flight to London, and the second plane is scheduled to perform its first flight in December.
Photo: Austrian Airlines
The new planes will join 29 older generation A320s in Austrian’s fleet, which currently has 62 active aircraft per ch-aviation.
In October, Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann commented,
“The Austrian team bravely fought its way through the crisis over the past two and a half years and put the company on a competitive footing. The restructuring has been completed and the Austrian team is fit to fly again. We successfully demonstrated this last summer. This is the cornerstone for us being brand new again for the first time in over 16 years …”
Retrofitting bigger jets
The airline also has plans to tweak its long-haul offering by retrofitting its Boeing 777 aircraft. To accommodate the uptick in premium leisure demand, Austrian is retrofitting its 777-200ERs, adding more seats in both economy and premium economy.
All of Austrian’s 777s presently have 306 seats but will be reconfigured with 24 more for a total of 330. The carrier has six of the type in its fleet, with three (OH-LPA, OH-LPB, OH-LPC) arriving in 2005, the fourth (OH-LPD) in 2007, the fifth (OH-LPE) in 2014, and the latest in (OH-LPF) in 2018.
What do you think about Austrian Airlines’ fleet development strategy? Please leave a comment below.
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Austrian Airlines
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- OS/AUA
- Airline Type:
- Full Service Carrier
- Hub(s):
- Vienna International Airport
- Year Founded:
- 1957
- Alliance:
- Star Alliance
- Airline Group:
- Lufthansa Group
- CEO:
- Annette Mann
- Country:
- Austria
