It is an open secret that the long-haul fleet of Austrian Airlines unfortunately currently does not have a lot of work due to the corona crisis. At the same time, some machines are past their prime and should be replaced. However, Lufthansa will not contribute to the cost of new long-haul aircraft, said board member Andreas Otto in an interview with CH-Aviation.com.

This means that dreams of the Boeing 787 or Airbus A350 will probably remain dreams for a long time. In the short term, according to Otto, absolutely nothing is planned in this direction, because only “sometime next summer” will the fleet plan “be re-analyzed because it is currently difficult to create plans”.

When it announced an order for twenty B787-9s in 2019, the Lufthansa Group included a jet rendering in the paintwork of Austrian Airlines. However, it was never officially confirmed that any of the B787 would actually be operated by the AUA. Otto pointed out that the conditions of the respective state rescue operations preclude plane transfers within the group. The tickets for Austrian Airlines are therefore damned badly with this order to get brand new Dreamliners.

The Austrian Airlines board member opposite CH-Aviation.com: “We are currently having financial problems within the group. Every company has to take care of itself. We cannot expect that the shareholder will provide us with brand new aircraft - we could not pay for them and Lufthansa would not be able to give them to us as a grant or loan ”.

The AUA Board of Commerce also makes no secret of the fact that the long-haul fleet is getting on in years and “will have to be replaced at some point”. In view of the current market situation, there is absolutely no stress, because some Boeing 767-300s are currently being used on the long-haul network that has shrunk due to the corona crisis, while the Boeing 777s are at most used for cargo flights and, unfortunately, the wheels are literally flat at Vienna Airport have to. Due to the many entry and quarantine regulations, there is hardly any demand and therefore unfortunately no work for most of Austrian Airlines' wide-body jets. The load factor is catastrophic anyway; on some routes it is almost a miracle that Austrian Airlines operates the flights at all.

“In terms of size, the B767 would be better right now, but it's the older type. Next year we will have to review our large-capacity fleet, whether we will continue to operate both types or whether we will reduce them to one. Our business plan, which we have agreed on with the banks and the government, provides for the operation of nine wide-body aircraft, consisting of six B777s and three B767s, ”Otto explained to CH-Aviation.com.

Dash-8 could get away earlier, Airbus A319 could stay longer

The smallest sample of the AUA fleet could literally get to the collar even earlier. Regardless of the fact that the DHC Dash 8-400 is currently an extremely important "workhorse" in order to be able to maintain various European connections, Otto speaks of the fact that the turboprop aircraft may not be phased out at the end of the winter flight schedule 2020/21, but probably much earlier. In view of the extremely low occupancy rate that Austrian Airlines - and almost all other European airlines too - is currently recording, the approach is definitely questionable. The last word does not seem to have been spoken yet, especially since some things could well depend on developments over the next few weeks. The regional fleet is to concentrate on 17 Embraer 195s in the future. Andreas Otto told CH-Aviation that the Brazilian manufacturer's jets “fit perfectly with the current situation”.

In the area of ​​the Airbus fleet, the Austrian Airlines board member indicates that the seven Airbus A319s could stay in the fleet longer than originally announced. Review: In April, the carrier announced that all A319s and three of six Boeing 767-300s should be retired by the end of 2022. Otto now emphasizes that they are currently sticking to the plan, but admits: "For example, the A319 currently fit much better than the A320-200, the A321-100 or the A321-200". He also indicated that the service life of the seven Airbus A319s could be extended, but nothing has been decided "at least for the time being".