Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines New York JFK-Vienna-Budapest-Vienna-Newark. Placed on this flight at the last minute at JFK as Lufthansa was in the throes of the first day of an airline strike with no connecting flights Frankfurt to Budapest. Had to wait in line 2.5 hours for re-booking (not Austrian Airlines fault), hence full flight on Austrian, no choice of seats. Plane was a 767 which Austrian flies in the winter and legroom a bit better than their cramped 777 used earlier in the year on a similar route. Service onboard pleasant - video screen on back of seat in front of passenger is larger than some airlines, easy to manipulate (touch system) with range of films and very wide range of Classical Music. Food onboard out of JFK usual chicken or pasta served on small awkward tray with fragile plastic cutlery. The breakfast is a warmed charred Panini - nothing else - probably the worst breakfast one can encounter crossing the Atlantic to Europe. Return flight Vienna-Newark was better with Veal offering instead of chicken and the dreaded second meal of the same charred Panini served on last flight Vienna-NYC ws upgraded this time to tasty sandwich and dessert. Multiple drink runs and pleasant service. Seats still very narrow. Vienna - Budapest very short flight - so only water served and was jet rather than the usual propeller plane probably as all Lufthansa flights from Munich or Frankfurt to Budapest were cancelled due to the strike and Lufthansa's passengers re-routed via Vienna and AUA. Business Class on AUA on this transatlantic route is topnotch - Economy class is only average. No luggage problems at all. Would recommend for convenience but AUA in economy is not at the level it once was. Their flimsy breakfast is an embarrassment.

Austrian Airlines has the service level of a low cost carrier, however some planes of Austrian Airlines are pretty old. The flight from Vienna to Zurich was not full, where they fly in competition with Air Berlin and Swiss departing at the same time.

Milano to Erbil via Vienna with Austrian Airlines regularly over the last 4 years. The short Milano-Vienna flight is usually fine. Vienna-Erbil is a 3.5 hours flight. Over the years I have experienced nearly empty flights and fully booked ones and the cabin service is typically consistent. The real problem is the non-existent inflight entertainment. Their A320 offer no individual TV screens. Overhead small screens every 4 rows were available up to a couple of years ago, but these are always kept closed in recent times - not even showing the old cartoons and gags or flight information. Not a single sheet with sudoku or crosswords is distributed - sometimes there aren't even newspapers available when boarding or they are in German only, which is silly when most passengers are non-German speakers (Austrian is one of the only European airlines connecting Erbil with a daily flight). The meal is not bad but small in size and no choice is offered. The dessert is the same for 4 years. The main dish of baked pasta has been the same for the past 2 years. I like it, but many passengers can't really eat it because of its unbelievably high garlic content. I can't say much about the cabin crew as after serving meal and coffee, efficiently but without smiles, they simply disappear for the next 2 hours. As a comparison, the daily flight from Istanbul operated by Turkish Airlines offers (in economy class to the same destination, for a shorter flight) the choice among two menus, pillows and blankets, and an individual PTV screen with a broad range of movies, hundreds of music albums and some simple video games.

Amsterdam to Tirana via Vienna with Austrian, and the tickets weren't very expensive, so we didn't expect much. But it was a great experience. The crew was very friendly and the trip was comfortable. We couldn't check-in online, but it was not a problem by the desk and she checked us in. We had a delay and the crew helped everyone to tell them which gate they must go to take the another flight.

Austrian has introduced new Embraer planes for short flights in Europe. They have 2x2 seat configuration in contrast to previous Fokker configuration 2 x3. Flight from Warsaw to Vienna was extremely pleasant and they had 4 flight attendants on this type of aircraft, which resulted in a more personal and attentive service. The flight was on time and transfer in Vienna was perfect.

A short 30 min hop to Budapest. The two cabin crew greeted passengers without smiles and didn't seem like they care about service. No food was offered on this very short trip (just coffee or tea). Would not recommend as an option between these cities - I traveled it as it was part of my package.

Austrian Airlines from Tokyo Narita to Vienna. I was impressed with the modern and fresh interior of the aircraft. I was a little annoyed no menu was provided to passengers, which are still offered by a few airlines. Staff were friendly throughout the flight and smiling when asked to help. Food was adequate. IFE system was average for the flight, however I found myself running out of options to watch. Flight departed and landed on time so all in all I was quite impressed with the service.

While the Austrian Airlines flight itself from Vienna to Hamburg was uneventful the in-flight service was poor. The flight attendants were slow and the snack selection was tangerine or no tangerine. The wine was good though. We also took off with a delay of almost one hour as only a few de-icing vehicles were in operation despite freezing temperatures. Upon arrival in Hamburg it took almost 30 minutes to get our luggage. Generally I still like flying Austrian but it's not much more than a low cost carrier with premium fares.

Early departure from Sarajevo to Vienna was delayed by just 10 mins. The Fokker 100 aircraft was extremely old. During the flight the food on this 1hr 20 min flight was without much taste. I thought the ticket was quite expensive like for such a short flight.

Vienna to Delhi, and the product onboard Austrian's business class is quite similar to Lufthansa, if not in the seat type or seat layout. Seats are comfortable, hi-tech and advanced, but quite narrow and congested. Food is as always commendable and fresh. Service was great, entertainment system had a wide variety of movies and songs, playlist feature was convenient and easy to use, unlike many carriers today.