(Austria) Austrian @·AIRCRAFTUBE

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Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines AG, sometimes shortened to myAustrian or just to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered in the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hub. The company operates scheduled services to over 130 destinations worldwide and is a member of the Star Alliance.

The airline was formed in 1957 by the merger of Air Austria and Austrian Airways, but traces its history back to 1923 at the founding of Austrian Airways. During the 2000s, the airline expanded through the acquisitions of Rheintalflug and Lauda Air, and adopted the shortened Austrian name in 2003. Throughout the decade, Austrian sustained several years of losses, and in 2008 its owner, the Austrian Government was advised to sell the airline to a foreign company. In 2009, the Lufthansa Group purchased the airline after receiving approval from the European Commission following an investigation into the tendering process.

Following disputes with staff over cost-cutting, all Austrian Airlines' flights transferred on 1 July 2012 to its subsidiary Tyrolean Airways, which operated under the Austrian brand. On 1 April 2015, all flights transferred back to Austrian, and Tyrolean Airways was merged into its parent.

Early years

On 3 May 1923 Walter Barda-Bardenau received approval by the Austrian government for establishing an airline. He participated in the newly formed Austrian Airlines (German: Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG) with one percent, with the remaining shares going to the Austrian railway transportation institution (50%) and the Junkers-Werke (49%).

The fleet initially consisted of Junkers F 13s. The first flight of the company took place from Vienna on 14 May 1923 to Munich, with pilot Hans Baur at the controls. The landing took place in Vienna Jedlesee and there occurred a conversion to float for connecting the flight to Budapest.

The company initially operated as part of Junkers Trans European Union. Destinations included Munich, Budapest, Nuremberg, Graz, Klagenfurt and St. Wolfgang. Some targets in Austria were served with seaplanes. The dissolution of the Union in September 1926 led to the discontinuation of some components.

From 1927 the company was procured with government support for new aircraft. The partnership agreement with Deutsche Luft Hansa of that same year foresaw line connections that would be operated jointly by the two companies. In the period that followed a route network started to Berlin, Budapest and Milan. In 1932 Luft Hansa Junkers held 49% of the capiltal. After the end of the world economic crisis the fleet was reinforced with several Junkers Ju 52/3m.

In 1938, the company was planning new routes to Rome, Paris and London, operated with Junkers Ju 90s, but after the annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938, these plans were abandoned. The airline was now fully under the control of Lufthansa and in June 1939, the company was deleted from the commercial register.

After the War

After the Second World War, Austria was again separated from Germany. As a result, Austria was left without a national airline. Austrian Airlines was formed as Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG through the merger of Air Austria and Austrian Airways and began operations on 30 September 1957, making its maiden flight on 31 March 1958 when a Vickers Viscount 779 took off from Vienna to Zurich and London. The domestic services launched on 1 May 1963. The airline's transatlantic services began on 1 April 1969 with a Vienna via Brussels to New York service in co-operation with Sabena.

Jet era

At first, Austrian Airlines had competition from Adria Airways because of passengers from the Austrian provinces of Styria and Carinthia commuting to Yugoslavia to use airports in what is now Slovenia. Austrian ordered its first jet airliner, the Sud Aviation Caravelle, on 18 February 1963 and the type was operated until 1973. From 1971, Austrian started standardising her fleet in a short time frame in favour of 9 Douglas DC-9-32 that would serve for many years on short and medium-haul flights. In 1975, the first of 5 DC-9-51 was introduced. In 1977, Austrian become the first Customer for the DC-9-80 (or McDonnell Douglas MD-80) along with Swissair.

The first MD-81 entered service in October 1980, allowing longer-range flights. In 1984, Austrian became the first customer for the MD-87 and played a significant role in the project. The first MD-87 entered service at the end of 1987, as well as MD-83 from 1990, while 6 MD-81 were upgraded to MD-82 standards.

Developments from 1990 to 2008

The 1990s were under the sign of cooperation and alliances. Austrian was one of the first company to join the Qualiflyer Group, founded by Swissair. It was also a time of quick expansion in long-haul flights, with flights to China and South Africa.

In 2000, Austrian became a member of Star Alliance and acquired Lauda Air. It acquired Rheintalflug on 15 February 2001. Its name was shortened to Austrian in September 2003, when it rebranded its three constituent carriers. On 1 October 2004 the Flight Operations Departments of Austrian and Lauda Air were merged into a single unit, leaving Lauda Air as a brand name only for charter flights. It has 6,394 employees. The other subsidiary, Tyrolean Airways, specialised in regional flights, and was merged with Rheintalflug.

In October 2006, Austrian was forced to adopt a stringent cost-saving policy, and 2007 saw the shedding of over 500 jobs. Many long-haul destinations were cancelled, such as Sydney via Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne via Singapore, Kathmandu or Shanghai. 3 remaining Fokker 70 were sent to Tyrolean Airways. It was also decided to abandon the long-haul Airbus planes, consisting of 4 Airbus A340 and 4 Airbus A330, in order to standardise the fleet in favour of Boeing 777 and Boeing 767. Austrian Airlines removed complimentary in-flight meals and alcoholic drinks on short haul services, introducing what was called a "Self Select Bistro Service", except on flights from London and any flights above 100 minutes in duration. Head office moved from Oberlaa to Vienna Airport in 2007, whereas headquarters remained in Vienna itself.

After a small profit of 3.3 million euros in 2007, financial guidance for 2008 had to be changed negatively several times, to a loss of 475 million euros expected as of end of November.

Privatization and takeover by Lufthansa

In June 2008, the Merrill Lynch investment bank advised the Austrian Government to sell AUA to a foreign company. Interest was shown by Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, Royal Jordanian, Air China, Turkish Airlines, Aeroflot, S7 Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Of those, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and S7 emerged.

On 13 November 2008, state holding ÖIAG announced that Lufthansa was selected. The German company was to enter Austrian's capital with a 41.6% share, for which it would pay €366,268.75. AUA CEO Alfred Ötsch and OIAG chairman Peter Michaelis were heavily criticised for revealing to Lufthansa that it had to take over the €500 million debt only once the deal had been made binding. Michaelis refused a new tendering procedure, but was made a scapegoat with his shareholder rights removed, and Ötsch resigned on 29 January 2013.

On 1 July 2009, the European Commission initiated investigation on the acquisition for breach of free trade rules, suspecting that the tendering process was a fake one, everything being already decided in favour of Lufthansa. Finally, with approval from the European Commission, Lufthansa purchased Austrian Airlines in September 2009.

Shares in Austrian Airlines AG were suspended on Vienna Stock Exchange on 4 February 2010. After a time of uncertainty following the demission of appointed CEO Thierry Antinori, the arrival of Jaan Albrecht as the new CEO in 2011 signalled the beginning of a new era for the airline, with improving passenger numbers and a more strategic position within the Lufthansa framework. The completion of extension works at the Vienna International Airport will give the airline more room for expansion. As a result, in January 2012, a new strategy was implemented, with the addition of 11 new aircraft in the next three years, leading to a renewal of the fleet on the long term, with Airbus planes serving medium-haul routes and Boeings serving long-haul routes.

In December 2011, a new cost-saving plan was revealed, as AUA's figures were still in the red despite the shedding of 2500 jobs. Lufthansa refused to provide financial support. In March 2012, Austrian called once more for recapitalisation. Lufthansa approved a capital increase of €140 million, providing effective measure to be taken in order to address the structural deficiencies.

The Lauda Air subsidiary was officially merged into Austrian Airlines on 1 July 2012.

Operational transition to Tyrolean from 2012

On April 30, 2012, after failure of negotiations over cost cutting measures, AUA operations were taken over by subsidiary Tyrolean Airways. Since this date all Austrian flights are operated by Tyrolean. However 110 pilots and 250 flight personnel chose not to go to Tyrolean and to instead leave the group.

Austrian Airlines retired its final Boeing 737, a 737-800 variant in Lauda Air markings, in April 2013 as part of its fleet consolidation exercise. The 11 strong Boeing 737 fleet was replaced by seven Airbus A320s, with an expected annual saving of €17 million through the move to a single type.

Merger of Austrian and Tyrolean in 2015

In October 2014 it was reported that Tyrolean's flight operations and staff would be reintegrated into Austrian Airlines by 31 March 2015 as a new labour agreement has been reached. Ahead of the merger, Austrian announced an overhauled concept called "my Austrian" on 26 March 2015. It includes a new corporate design, a revised aircraft livery, and a number of new routes.

In June 2015, Austrian Airlines announced the purchase of 17 pre-owned Embraer 195s from within the Lufthansa Group. These Embraer aircraft, which were formerly owned by Lufthansa CityLine, will replace the ageing Fokker 70s and 100s.

Ownership and subsidiaries

Austrian Airlines Group is wholly owned by Lufthansa.

The Group owns shares in 24 companies, including:

  • Gulet-Touropa-Touristik
  • AVS-Versicherungen
  • TUI Austria
  • Traviaustria
  • AirPlus Kreditkarteninstitut
  • Wiener Börse AG
  • SCA Schedule Coordination Austria
  • ACS AirContainerService GmbH
  • Avicon Aviation Consult GmbH
  • Austrian Lufthansa Cargo GmbH
  • Austrian Airlines Tele Sales & Service GmbH

Incidents and accidents

The following is a list of incidents and accidents involving Austrian Airlines mainline aircraft. It excludes occurrences with subsidiaries, such as Tyrolean Airways or Austrian Air Services.

On 26 September 1960 at 21:40 local time, an Austrian Airlines Vickers Viscount (registered OE-LAF) crashed during approach of Sheremetyevo International Airport, killing 26 of the 31 passengers on board, as well as five of the six crew members. The aircraft had been operating Flight 901 from Vienna to Moscow with an intermediate stop at Warsaw. As a probable cause for this to date only fatal accident for the airline, a malfunction in an altimeter was given.

On 21 February 1970, a bomb explosion occurred in the cargo hold of an Austrian Airlines Sud Aviation Caravelle (registered OE-LCU) during a flight from Frankfurt to Vienna with 33 passengers and five crew on board, creating a hole in the fuselage. The pilots managed to return the aircraft safely to Frankfurt Airport. On the same day, another bomb had been planted on Swissair Flight 330, causing it to crash, killing 47 people. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed the responsibility for both assaults.

On 7 January 1997, Austrian Airlines Flight 104 from Berlin to Vienna was hijacked by a Bosnian male who had forced his way into the cockpit armed with a knife (which was of a size small enough not to be banned from aeroplanes under regulations in force at the time). The pilots obeyed the perpetrator's demands to return to Berlin, so that he could negotiate with the local authorities over the renewal of his visa. Back at Berlin Tegel Airport, the McDonnell Douglas MD-87 was stormed by special police forces, and the hijacker was overpowered.

On 5 January 2004 at 08:17 local time, an Austrian Airlines Fokker 70 (registered OE-LFO) crash-landed on a snow-covered field near Munich International Airport. The aircraft had been operating Flight 111 from Vienna to Munich, with 28 passengers and four crew on board, when its engines failed during landing descent due to icing. The aircraft was severely damaged, however only three passengers suffered minor injuries.

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