Austrian Airlines – General Information
Established in 1958 Austrian Airlines is famous for its broad network of flights mainly in Central and East Europe and Middle East. The airline often is a pioneer in adding new and unknown destinations in its routes. The well-focused network for long flights is complementing with the frequent flights for medium and short destinations which give an opportunity for transfers. The Austrian Airlines Group includes three partners – Austrian, Lauda Air and Austrian arrows. Austrian is concentrated in the regular schedule, Austrian arrows specializes in the regional business, and Lauda Air closes the cycle in the group with its charter flights.
Since March 2010 Austrian has been a part of the Star Alliance. With its 20 airlines members, this global association is the biggest of its kind, functioning with a modern international aviation.
According to the last statistic from 2007 the Austrian group had transported more than 10.8 million passengers.
Main Headquarter and Flights
The main base of Austrian Airlines is the airport in Vienna. With its partners Lauda Air and Austrian arrows, Austrian serves 130 destinations in 66 countries on 5 continents. The times of departure and arrival at airport Vienna are coordinated in order to offer perfect domestic and international connections.
With the introducing of the new destinations Baia Mare, Nizhny Novgorod and Sochi (in April, 2008) the airline continues to add key regions from Central and East Europe in its network. With the adding of the new cities, the network in East Europe covers 48 destinations in 24 countries. The group continues to expand its network of destinations in the Middle East. Since May 2009 the company has offered one more destination to its schedule with 4 new flights during the week from Vienna to Amman, the capital of Kingdom of Jordan. Since October, 2008 flights to Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia has been performing.
Austrian Airways flies from Sofia to Vienna three times per day and once a day from Varna to Vienna. During the summer the flights Varna-Vienna are added and will perform three times per week in the morning.
Fleet
Austrian Airlines has a modern fleet. The average age of the machines is only 6.2 years which is much less than the average in Europe. The planes Airbus 321 / 320 / 319, Boeing 777 / 767 / 737, Fokker 100 / 70, Bombardier Q400 / Q300 and Canadair Jet (total of 100 planes) will take you to your desired destination.
Transatlantic Flights
The business class of a transatlantic flight consists of an aperitif, followed by an appetizer by choice from the cart. Then the main course follows, chosen by the three options from the print menu. Before that a soup is always served – an essential future for the Austrian cuisine. Cheese and fruits or dessert by choice is the final part. To all this you can choose from selected wines from leading Austrian and foreign manufacturers. During the whole flight you can choose from different alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and before arrival a snack is served. Something special is the first Viennese café in the clouds – the airline offers 11 popular Austrian cafes, including the classical "Kaisermelange", "Franziskaner" and many others.
For flights longer than 150 minutes in the economy class, warm dishes are being served – a freshly prepared main course, dessert and freshly baked breads. The guests of the economy class in longer flights are welcomed with a drink and mouthfuls. Two different menus with two dishes each by choice follow. Before arrival you can have a snack or light meal according to the time. During the whole flight you have the right to choose between different alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Domestic Flights
Two dishes of cold food are offered for the flights from the business class which is 80 minutes, and two warm dishes, for those who are longer. The menu consists of three to five chosen dishes for the flights during the daytime and the evening. The Austrian spirit is complemented with china with a special design, tissue napkins, and hot towels for refreshing before eating and freshly bakes breads. Moreover, one can shop duty-free above the clouds with all flights with a starting and final point – a country outside the European Union, also called Fly & buy offer of Austrian.
The food offered in the economy class for flights with short and medium duration is something “fresh, innovative and Austrian” according to Austrian Airlines – freshly prepared breakfast with a light meal according to the time.
Frequent Flyer Program
The frequent flyer program of Austrian Airlines is a part of Miles & More. The members of the program can collect miles from every flight of Austrian Airlines or Star Alliance. The statuses in Miles & More are determined by the number of miles flown within one calendar year with the flights from the given partners. The levels of membership are primary (no minimal threshold), Frequent Traveller (Silver card with threshold 35,000 miles), Senator (Gold Card with threshold 100,000 miles), and HON Circle (black card, 600,000 miles for two calendar years). All levels other than the primary offer lounge access and extra bonus miles. Each higher level extends additional the benefits for the user.
Taking your boarding pass for Austrian Airlines can get you not only to the flight of your destination. With presenting the card it also ensures free entry or discounts for many museums and cultural attractions in Vienna and other cities like New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Moscow, Barcelona, Milan, Munich, etc., or a cup of free Viennese mélange in selected restaurants in various cities.
