On Tuesday evening, the Lauda airline began withdrawing its A320 fleet. According to the company, a total of 21 machines of this type will be transferred to other airports. It all started with the OE-IHL, OE-LOX, OE-LOU, and the OE-IBJ. These will in future be parked at Stansted Airport.

The Ferry flights are carried out by pilots from the airline Lauda, ​​who have volunteered for this mission. They will make their way back to Austria on board a private jet. Eight more machines are to be transferred to Stansted Airport on Wednesday.

By the end of the week, the company wants to have flown out all 21 Airbus A320s that were parked at Vienna Airport. The destinations of the machines are Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Palma and London-Stansted. It is currently uncertain whether a return to Vienna could take place. The company promised that if the new collective agreement is concluded, the Vienna base will be kept open until Thursday evening and the jets will be brought back in good time before the scheduled connections are resumed.

It therefore remains to be seen whether it will come to that or whether today's transferring party will mark the beginning of the end of Lauda in Vienna. The Austrian Chamber of Commerce and the Vida union emphasize that efforts are being made to find a solution that will lead to the preservation of the Lauda base in Vienna. The routes that were previously served by the Austrian airline will be taken over by Ryanair DAC, Malta Air and Buzz in the event of the base being closed.

Pilots of the airline Lauda provided the impressions from today's start of the flight of the Viennese Airbus A320 fleet. A YouTube video is also available at this link.