Lufthansa to invest €100m in the Austrian Airlines fleet

Lufthansa has approved large-scale investments in the Austrian Airlines fleet.

The investments will serve as the basis for the Austrian Airlines strategy entitled, “Next Level Austrian”, at the Vienna flight hub, as well as for the acquisition of one additional intercontinental and two additional continental aircraft.

These three planes alone represent an investment value of more than €100 million. As a result, more than 230 additional jobs will be created at the Vienna hub. The two Airbus A320 jets will serve to grow the Austrian Airlines fleet already this year, whereas the Boeing 777 aircraft is expected to be deployed with the start of the summer flight schedule 2018.

“I am pleased that the go-ahead has been given to the first package of the ‘Next Level Austrian’ strategy and thus the next step in the development of Austrian Airlines,” said Austrian Airlines chief executive, Kay Kratky. “The conclusion of the collective bargaining agreement for the flight crew and the positive signals from political decision makers with respect to Vienna as a flight hub ensure a good investment climate.”

In the next step, Austrian Airlines is to make a decision regarding the modernisation of the long-haul fleet, in light of the fact that, as is already well known, the existing fleet of long-haul aircraft will begin to reach the end of their useful economic lives starting in 2020.