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80 million euros for new long-haul product

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Austrian Airlines (AUA), the Austrian branch of the Lufthansa Group, will begin refitting its long-haul fleet in the fall. 80 million euros will be invested in new Business and Economy Class seats and the in-flight entertainment will be brought up to date. "Fortunately, AUA is part of a large group, because otherwise the future for such a medium-sized airline would be very different. The synergies with Lufthansa give us the opportunity to exploit this and invest in our product in those markets where we are strong," says AUA CEO Jaan Albrecht.


Particularly in Business Class, AUA's current product is no longer up to date and, according to the Managing Board, is one of the reasons why the Austrian airline has lost passengers on long-haul routes. And this at a time when most airlines are growing in this segment. By spring 2013, four Boeing 777-200ERs and six Boeing 767-300ERs will be equipped with the new product. The seats in Business Class will be almost identical to those at Swiss International Air Lines. A special highlight: in the Boeing 767, the seating arrangement in a row will be just 1-2-1. In other words, only four seats. This is a top value in terms of space allocation. On the Boeing 777, the seating arrangement will be 2-2-2, which is also a very good value. "With the investment in our new long-haul product and with a better cost structure and our employees, we can take Austrian even further forward. Our declared goal is also to see more long-haul flights in Vienna.


If you look at Vienna today, something has not developed properly here. Emirates flies twice a day or Korean, but none of our Star Alliance partners do. We will be holding more meetings here with our partners to put Vienna on the Star map," Albrecht concludes.




Kurt Hofmann

(August 2012)


Connoisseur Circle Reiseservice GmbH Mariahilfer Straße 88a/II/2a 1070 Wien, Austria +43 1 890 69 77-24, +43 1 890 69 77-10, office@ccircle.cc
 

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