Austrian Airlines Acquiring 10 Boeing 787-9s

Austrian Airlines Acquiring 10 Boeing 787-9s

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Austrian Airlines has just formally revealed plans to refresh its long haul fleet. I think this is more or less what many of us were expecting, but it’s nice to have it confirmed.

Austrian replacing 767s & 777s with 787s

Austrian’s long haul fleet currently consists of nine aircraft, including three Boeing 767-300ERs and six Boeing 777-200ERs. In order to modernize its fleet, Austrian will be taking delivery of 10 Boeing 787-9s. The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner will join Austrian’s fleet in 2024, and the fleet refresh should be complete by 2028, at which point all previous generation long haul aircraft will be retired.

Austrian Airlines will retire all Boeing 767s

Austrian’s 767s are an average of over 23 years old, while Austrian’s 777s are an average of over 22 years old, so it’s good that there are firm plans to replace these aircraft, and to even grow the long haul fleet by one aircraft.

For context on this aircraft acquisition, Lufthansa Group (the parent company of Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, and Brussels) has ordered dozens of Boeing 787-9s, Airbus A350-900s, and Airbus A350-1000s. The company didn’t initially reveal exact which planes would go to which airlines, though as time has gone on, we’ve learned more and more about these plans.

Austrian Airlines is getting 10 Boeing 787-9s

So far, here’s what we know about how these plane orders will be allocated:

  • All Airbus A350-1000s will be operated by Lufthansa, and will be flown out of Munich with first class
  • At least five Airbus A350-900s will be operated by SWISS, replacing Airbus A340-300s
  • Lufthansa will operate the majority of Airbus A350-900s and Boeing 787-9s, though the exact number remains to be seen
  • Now we know that Austrian will get 10 Boeing 787-9s
Airbus A350-1000s are exclusively going to Lufthansa

What will Austrian’s 787 onboard product be like?

It’s exciting to see that Austrian will be refreshing its long haul fleet, as it’s also the Lufthansa Group airline with the best business class soft product. Austrian has exceptional inflight catering, with an onboard chef, an amazing coffee menu, and delicious food.

Another big question is what Austrian’s Boeing 787 onboard product will look like, especially in business class. As of now, the airline is simply stating that the Boeing 787s will feature an “innovative cabin concept” that “enhances comfort for guests.”

As we know, Lufthansa is rolling out a new business class product, which will be known as Allegris. This is launching in late 2023 on Boeing 787-9s, and in 2024 on Airbus A350-900s.

New Lufthansa Allegris business class

SWISS plans to introduce the same product on its Airbus A350-900s, except with SWISS branding, and the product will be known as SWISS Senses.

New SWISS Senses business class

My assumption would be that Austrian will get the same business class product on newly delivered Boeing 787s. After all, that’s the most efficient approach, and for that matter it would finally mean that Lufthansa Group has some long haul product efficiency.

There’s only one potential catch. Lufthansa has acquired five Boeing 787-9s that were initially intended for Hainan Airlines, and these planes have a totally different onboard product, as Lufthansa didn’t customize it to its own experience.

It’s rumored that these could be the first Boeing 787s that are transfered to Austrian. If that’s the case, I’m curious if those jets just maintain the current interior, or what exactly Austrian does. It would be a bit strange if the airline had half of its Boeing 787s with one product, and the other half of its Boeing 787s with another product. But it also wouldn’t surprise me.

Austrian may inherit Lufthansa’s Hainan Boeing 787s

Bottom line

Austrian Airlines will be acquiring 10 Boeing 787s between 2024 and 2028, which will be used to refresh the carrier’s long haul fleet. At that point Austrian’s 767s and 777s will be fully retired. It’s nice to get official confirmation of Austrian’s fleet renewal plans.

Now the big question is what the interiors will be like on these planes, and in particular, if Austrian will get the five ex-Hainan Boeing 787s that Lufthansa is currently flying.

What do you make of Austrian’s long haul fleet renewal plans?

Conversations (21)
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  1. Phillip Diamond

    Lufthansa tries very hard to ensure Austrian is seen as the poor relation. They can’t even let them have a brand new fleet from scratch, if the do transfer over the “Hainan” aircraft!

  2. Peter Brown Guest

    About time. Biga is obviously just a disgruntled customer Ignore her.

  3. Weymar Osborne Gold

    One thing that I worry about is with Lufthansa standardizing their cabins across all their brands they will also try to standardize soft products, and that would almost certainly mean going down to Lufthansa's level rather than going up to Austrian's.

  4. BigG Guest

    Disagree on a few points . Swiss has a better business class . Service on Austrian and catering is consistently bad . The coffee menu is for people who do not like coffee but think that a pumpkin latte is coffee . Refresh is well needed as well as getting rid of the eye burning uniforms and do@co as caterers . Lounges and schnapps selection is consistently good .

    1 more reply
  5. Michal Guest

    Ben, any idea when they are coming back to Miami?

  6. Tim Dunn Diamond

    The LH group has a very good fleet sourcing and allocation strategy. The 787 is a great fit for OS.

  7. Zach Guest

    Special place in my heart for Austrian’s business class. It was my first time flying in the front of the plane (domestic or international). It cost my fiancé and I $500 euros each to upgrade at the gate from Vienna to Chicago, which we paid because we didn’t want to repeat the miserable experience in economy we’d had on the way over. At the end of an 8+ hour flight, I didn’t want it to...

    Special place in my heart for Austrian’s business class. It was my first time flying in the front of the plane (domestic or international). It cost my fiancé and I $500 euros each to upgrade at the gate from Vienna to Chicago, which we paid because we didn’t want to repeat the miserable experience in economy we’d had on the way over. At the end of an 8+ hour flight, I didn’t want it to end. And that’s when I started getting into the points and miles game…because I wanted to experience it again but couldn’t afford the ticket prices. If you’re traveling as a couple, it’s a truly wonderful experience. I recommend the seats in the middle of Row 1 - more room in the footwells. Doesn’t feel nearly as cramped as AA’s lie flat seats, and you’re close enough to each other to have a conversation and hold hands.

    3 more replies
  8. Joe Guest

    According to this very reliable site, it seems like the 5 GE powered 787-9s currently at Lufthansa will transfer to Austrian. It also says the first aircraft scheduled for early 2024 will be a factory fresh one. Will the remaining 5 aircraft be GE powered? Will the ex-Hainan aircraft be reconfigured? I hope so.

    https://sites.google.com/view/europeanairlinefleets/aua

    1. InceptionCat Guest

      Indeed it’s been said that Austrian will get the Hainan aircraft as soon as LH gets enough of it’s own ‘Allegris’ 787s to replace the current 787s.

  9. Scudder Diamond

    It looks like that picture in the banner has a 787 in Swiss livery. Shouldn't that be a clue?

    2 more replies
  10. shoeguy Guest

    This is great to hear. The 767s and 777s average 22 and 23 years in age respectively, though well maintained.

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Santos Guest

Shut up, Jason.

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Zach Guest

Special place in my heart for Austrian’s business class. It was my first time flying in the front of the plane (domestic or international). It cost my fiancé and I $500 euros each to upgrade at the gate from Vienna to Chicago, which we paid because we didn’t want to repeat the miserable experience in economy we’d had on the way over. At the end of an 8+ hour flight, I didn’t want it to end. And that’s when I started getting into the points and miles game…because I wanted to experience it again but couldn’t afford the ticket prices. If you’re traveling as a couple, it’s a truly wonderful experience. I recommend the seats in the middle of Row 1 - more room in the footwells. Doesn’t feel nearly as cramped as AA’s lie flat seats, and you’re close enough to each other to have a conversation and hold hands.

3
Stuart Guest

This is exciting news!

1
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