Austrian Airlines’ fleet has been an ageing one, without any new generation aircraft deliveries it was starting to be quite dated. However that all started to change when the parent company, the Lufthansa group, decided that the airline would finally be replacing part of its ageing fleet. They started the process tackling the short to medium haul fleet. In the past week Austrian Airlines received its fourth Airbus A320neo. So let’s take a closer look at the news and what is in store for Austrian Airlines.
4 Out of 4 A320neo Delivered to Austrian Airlines
The latest addition to the Austrian flag carrier’s fleet is Airbus A320neo registered OE-LZP. The aircraft as for the other newly arrived Airbus A320neo immediately received its nickname: Kalkalpen. Kalkalpen being the German word for Limestone Alps.
As for the other 3 newly arrived Airbus A320neo, here are their names:
- OE-LZN – Donau-Auen
- OE-LZO – Seewinkel
- OE-LZQ – Gesäuse
The arrival of OE-LZP completes the scheduled deliveries by Airbus to the Austrian flag carrier. An arrival which will help the airline cover travel demand for the upcoming busy holiday season in Europe.
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Image AustrianAirlines.ag
OE-LZP’s Delivery Flight
Austrian Airlines took delivery of its latest fleet addition, OE-LZP, just a few days ago. On June 28th 2023 the airline’s representatives and pilots received the airliner at Airbus’ assembly plant in Toulouse France.
OE-LZP made its first flight under the airline’s direct control taking off from Toulouse (TLS) at 18:25 and arriving in Vienna (VIE) at 20:16 after a 1 hour 50 minute flight. The new Airbus A320neo flew under flight number OS1472.
Image by GCMap.com
The Austrian Airlines A320neo Configuration
The 4 new Austrian Airlines Airbus A320neo all feature a quite standard configuration for European short and medium haul planes. All 4 jets feature a one class configuration capable of seating up to 180 passengers on a full load in a 3-3 layout.
However in many cases the plane will be divided into a 2 class configuration. Business class will be simply created by blocking the centra seats, providing a premium in flight service and placing a curtain between the front of the plane and the rear.
All seats present on the Austrian A320neo are produced by Italian firm Geven. Each Geven Essenza seat is 17.7″ wide. There are no personal entertainment screens available and these planes are not fitted with Wi-Fi connection capabilities. Therefore make sure to bring something to watch if you’re on a long flight on one of these A320neo.
Image AustrianAirlines.ag
The Next Step in Austrian’s Fleet Modernisation
With this first step of its fleet modernisation completed, Austrian Airlines will start looking ahead to the next phase. In 2024 the airline will start replacing its long range Boeing 767-300ER and 777-200ER with brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
This will be a massive upgrade for the operator as its long range fleet has aged quite a bit without any new planes being introduced in quite some time.
