Austrian Airlines has announced that it will resume limited flight operations on June 15th, after an almost three month long suspension.
On March 18th, the Vienna-based carrier became one of the first airlines to stop all its regular scheduled flights in response to the Coronavirus crisis and resulting travel restrictions around the world which led to passenger demand reaching historic lows. Over the past two months, it only operated chartered repatriation and cargo flights.
Now, Austrian wants to restart some of its schedule in June. The airline says it will offer services to about 40 destinations, all located in Europe and Israel, by the end of next month. These flights will initially be operated by smaller aircraft, including De Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprops and Embraer E195 regional jets. Around 5 percent of its regular capacity will be offered, compared to 2019, subject to official restrictions and regulations. This capacity is set to gradually increase with more destinations being added as demand returns.
However, no specific details for a restart of long-haul services have been outlined at this time.
As many other airlines, airports and governments are doing right now, Austrian temporarily requires all passengers to wear face masks during flights. The airline also advises its customers to pay close attention to current travel restrictions and hygiene guidelines for both the flight itself and the destination they are flying to.
Austrian Airlines, which is part of Germany’s Lufthansa Group, has recently outlined plans to retire its remaining Airbus A319 fleet, as well as half of its Boeing 767s amid the longer-term effect of the current crisis.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
