LONDON – Austrian flag carrier, Austrian Airlines, has taken delivery of the second Airbus A320neo aircraft, now totalling their A320neo fleet to two aircraft. The factory new aircraft was delivered by an Austrian team on November 4.
The delivery
On November 4th, Austrian Airlines, the flag carrier of Austria, took delivery of yet another Airbus A320neo aircraft from the Airbus factory in Toulouse, France.
An Austrian team stood behind the transfer of the aircraft, registered OE-LZO (MSN 11076), and the airframe is set to enter commercial operations in December. Austrian has decided to name MSN 11076 “Seewinkel”, an Austrian national park.
Route schedule
Austrian currently operates a single Airbus A320neo aircraft, and inaugurated the first A320neo service from Vienna to London Heathrow (LHR), on October 20, and their second Airbus A320neo is no exception for this route.
Currently, the planned routes for Austrian’s Airbus A320neo fleet, are to destinations such as London, Amsterdam and Berlin, however, although unannounced as of now, the A320neo fleet could be seen on other continental routes as more deliveries occur.
16 year hiatus on factory new planes
Just three weeks ago, Austrian announced the implementation of the new A320neo aircraft, all of which are on track to complete deliveries on time, by Spring of 2023.
Upon the announcement Austrian released, Chief Executive Officer at Austrian, Annette Mann, stated:-
“The Austrian team has bravely navigated the crisis over the past two and a half years and put the company back on track. The restructuring has been completed, and the Austrian Team is “fit to fly” again.”
“This summer, we successfully demonstrated our performance level. This was the basis for us to add factory-new aircraft to our fleet for the first time in more than 16 yearsand thus take an important growth step for our company and the Vienna hub.”
A great addition
With the latest Airbus A320neo delivery to Austrian, more are to be expected in spring season of 2023, where an additional two Airbus A320neo’s are set to join Austrian’s fleet.
Austrian currently operates a wide fleet of Airbus A320-family aircraft, and the addition of the A320neo is a great addition to their Airbus-aircraft family.
Compared to the older generations of Airbus that Austrian have, the Airbus A320neo delivers greater fuel-efficiency, and 50% less cabin noise, increasing passenger comfort. In addition to this, Airbus’ innovative Airspace Cabin increases passenger benefits, as passengers onboard aircraft with the configuration, can enjoy more personal space and hand-luggage capacity.
Overall
Though only four new aircraft are to join the fleet initially, the chances of Austrian seeing more A320neo’s in their fleet, could be likely in the future. Austrian’s 16-year long hiatus from ordering factory new aircraft is broken, which makes wonders for what aircraft could be the future of Austrian’s fleet, if orders continue in the coming years.
The A320neo is as mentioned, a great choice compared to the older Airbus aircraft in Austrian’s fleet, as it provides more benefits for passengers, as well as reduced fuel usage, meaning more money saved on fuel bills, and reduced carbon emissions.
