- Greater efficiency and higher productivity thanks to unified Airbus fleet on medium-haul routes
- Lauda Air now history
2013-04-02 — /travelprnews.com/ — The final Boeing 737 in the Tyrolean Airways fleet celebrated its departure today. The aircraft, which bears the registration OE-LNK, is the last to bear the Lauda Air design. This means the fleet harmonisation, during which eleven Boeing 737 aircraft have been replaced with seven Airbus A320 over the last seven months, is now complete. Tyrolean Airways now has a unified fleet on its medium-haul routes, consisting of 29 aircraft of the Airbus A320 fleet family. The company Lauda Air was merged with Austrian Airlines already last year. In the private travel segment, the power of the Austrian brand has been used to greater effect both nationally and internationally since the beginning of this year, with the launch of the ‘my Holiday’ product.
“This is an important milestone for our future competitiveness,” declared Austrian CEO Jaan Albrecht. “The fleet harmonisation is an essential building block in the restructuring programme of the Austrian Airlines Group.” Thanks to the unified fleet on medium-haul routes, Tyrolean Airways can enhance a number of essential synergies. Double costs for maintenance and spare parts are no longer necessary, for example, training for pilots can be standardised, and the aircraft can be deployed more productively in the network schedule. This all results in savings of around
17 million euros.
Airbus on medium-haul routes
There were a variety of different reasons for the decision to opt for Airbus on medium-haul during the fleet harmonisation. The Austrian Airlines Group had twice as many Airbus A320 in its fleet as it did Boeing 737. This meant the phasing out of the Boeing 737 involved lower costs, because fewer pilots and technicians needed to be retrained.
In addition to this, the Austrian Airlines Group already had larger sub-fleets within the Airbus A320 fleet, which could be operated more efficiently than the Boeing 737 sub-fleets. As well as this, the Austrian Airlines Group can benefit more from synergies within the Lufthansa Group by using the A320 on its medium-haul routes.
Dates, facts and the history of the Boeing 737 in the Austrian Airlines Group
The first Boeing 737-200, registration OE-ILE, took to the air for Lauda Air in the autumn on 1985. In the years that followed, Lauda Air incorporated a succession of Boeing 737 aircraft into its fleet, but each in different versions. After the takeover of Lauda Air, Austrian Airlines had a total of eleven Boeing 737 “Next Generation” and one Boeing 737-400 “Classic” in its fleet. The final Boeing 737-400 “Classic” was phased out of the fleet in 2004.
The Boeing 737 was mainly used to carry charter traffic at Lauda Air and Austrian. Since the spring of 2010, it has also been used on scheduled routes of Austrian Airlines. To make this possible, the Boeing 737 was repainted in the Austrian colours. Just one Boeing 737-800, bearing the registration OE-LNK, continued to fly under the Lauda Air colours, to enable the company to retain its AOC, or ‘Air Operator Certificate’.
The Boeing 737 “Next Generation” used at Lauda Air and Austrian Airlines flew over 300,000 flight hours in total between 1998 and 2013. The Boeing 737 was used for around 8 flight hours every day in the Austrian Airlines Group. That corresponds to 4.5 landings a day.
Before the fleet harmonisation, the Austrian Airlines Group had seven Boeing 737-800, two Boeing 737-600 and two Boeing 737-700 in its fleet.
Overview of the fleet of the Austrian Airlines Group
The Austrian Airlines Group currently has 74 aircraft in its operative fleet:
• Long-haul:
o 4 Boeing 777
o 6 Boeing 767
• Short- and medium-haul:
o 29 Airbus A320 fleet family, of which
6 Airbus A321
16 Airbus A320
7 Airbus A319
o 23 Fokker fleet family, of which
14 Fokker 100
9 Fokker 70
o 12 Dash 8-400
Austrian Airlines
Austrian Airlines is Austria’s largest carrier and operates a global route network of round 130 destinations. That route network is particularly dense in Central and Eastern Europe with 43 destinations. Thanks to its favourable geographical location at the heart of Europe, the company’s hub at Vienna International Airport is the ideal gateway between East and West. Austrian Airlines is part of the Lufthansa Group, Europe’s largest airline group, and a member of the Star Alliance, the first global alliance of international airlines. The flight operations of the Austrian Airlines Group has been bundled at its 100% subsidiary Tyrolean Airways since 1st July, 2012.
About Star Alliance
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, British Midland International, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines, EVA Air and Shenzhen Airlines have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 20,800 daily flights to 1,300 airports in 189 countries.
Owner. Editor. Reproducer: Austrian Airlines AG. Corporate Communications public.relations@austrian.com.
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