Just as 2023 was coming to a close Austrian Airlines announced the arrival of a new aircraft. The Austrian national carrier is in the midst of the process of renovating its somewhat ageing fleet. This new arrival is a further step on this path. So here’s which aircraft type, its configuration and when it arrived in Vienna.
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Austrian Airline’s 2024 New Year’s Fleet Expansion
The announcement is more the eye catchy one than the substantial one. The airline has announced it took delivery just ahead of the new year of its fifth Airbus A320neo.
The plane has been given registration number OE-LZR and will enter service shortly with Austrian Airlines serving the carrier’s short to medium range routes.
The reason for me saying that it’s more an eye catchy announcement is that there isn’t anything particularly special with this plane. This new A320neo features the same 1 class interiors with 180 seats in a 3-3 layout. It is exactly the same as the previous 4 to be delivered. Therefore the only special thing about this plane is its delivery on the turn of the year.
OE-LZR joins, as mentioned, other 4 A320neo in the Austrian fleet. With the other planes being:
- OE-LZO
- OE-LZP
- OE-LZQ
- OE-LZN
There is one other thing to mention about this plane. OELZR will fly white, without a livery, until spring. I suppose that also makes it somehow special.
Part Of The Much Wider Austrian Fleet Renovation
Austrian Airlines, among the Lufthansa Group carriers, has one of the oldest fleets. Their planes are ageing and clearly need replacement in order for the airline to remain competitive internationally.
The carrier is in fact working at this moment to replace much of its narrow and wide body planes. New Airbus A320neo are joining progressively in larger numbers to renovate the short to medium range fleet.
On the other hand Austrian Airlines is expecting to receive a number of Boeing 787 Dreamliners in coming years to completely replace its long range fleet. At the moment it consists of:
- 3 Boeing 767-300
- 6 Boeing 777-200
Therefore the Austrian fleet will look very different from its current appearance. The arrival of each new plane is a stepping stone towards this much larger change.
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