A few weeks ago, IH Aviation and Travel had reported how Austrian Airlines is considering inducting new long-haul aircraft, particularly the Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner, to its fleet. Well, that’s now confirmed.
B787-9s coming to Austrian fleet
Austrian has placed an order for ten Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Well, not exactly placed. The airline is part of the Lufthansa group and it will be getting these B787-9s from the existing order book of the Lufthansa Group.
The first Austrian B787-9 will arrive in 2024 and will take the carrier’s fleet to 66 by the summer schedule of 2024. The other nine B787-9s will continue to arrive through 2028.
With the ‘Dreamliner’ Austrian Airlines is taking off to a new era of aircraft and is setting course for growth. The fleet induction of ten Boeing 787-9 in the coming five years shows that we are fit for investments and the future.
said Annette Mann, CEO, Austrian Airlines.
The airline adds that the B787-9s will help the airline to reduce operating costs on long-haul routes, something which has been a major concern for the airline in the past few years. ith 2.5 liter fuel per passenger on a 100 kilometer air route, fuel consumption is reduced up to 20% when compared to a Boeing B767, the aircraft which Austrian currently uses along with the B777-200ER for its long-haul flights.
With Boeing 787-9 we are bringing one of the most innovative long-haul models on the market to Austrian Airlines. This is a team effort Austrian Airlines can be proud of.
said Francesco Sciortino, COO, Austrian Airlines.
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The ‘Dreamliner’ is living up to its name. We are happy that our guests will be able to enjoy the new travel comfort as of the expected maiden flight next summer.
said Michael Trestl, CCO, Austrian Airlines.
Modernisation plans
Austrian had been discussing about its long-haul fleet modernisation plan for quite some time now. It’s good to finally see the airline’s plan come to fruition.
Austrian currently has nine long-haul aircraft – six Boeing B777-200ERs (Extra-Range) and three Boeing B767-300ERs. The B777s have an average age of 22.1 years while the B767s have an average age of 23.3 years, so it’s clear that these aircraft are definitely old! The airline was in a dire need to modernise its fleet and the arrival of B787-9s will do just that.
Executives at Austrian have been saying how the B767s and B777s are very expensive to operate. These are fuel-guzzling aircraft, meaning that the cost to operate them is very high, especially on long-haul flights which these aircraft operate. The B787-9s will significantly bring down these costs for Austrian, something any airline wants to do.
It’s the perfect opportunity for Austrian to refresh its hard products for long-haul flights and we can certainly expect Austrian to install refreshed hard products on the B787-9s. Will Austrian also follow SWISS Airways by installing the new Allegris hard products that Lufthansa revealed earlier this year? All of this remains to be seen but it is surely exciting to see an airline modernise its fleet.
Featured image by Austrian
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