Long-term future Boeing 787s with Austrian still uncertain

Austrian Airlines will introduce the first Boeing 787-9 into the fleet next year and intends to eventually grow the number to ten Dreamliners, the carrier said in April. But it still needs confirmation of what the long-term future of these aircraft will be and if they stay in the fleet. AirInsight discussed the 787s with CEO Annette Mann on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Istanbul this week. Long-term future Boeing 787s with Austrian still uncertain. In October 2022, Mann told AirInsight that a decision on the fleet renewal and replacement of the Boeing 767s and 777s not only was related to the age of the aircraft. Another factor for Austrian and owner Lufthansa Group was the long-term position of the Vienna hub in relation to Europe's Fit for 55 climate policy. Back then, Annette Mann (in the center of the main picture) said: “We first want to know how the Fit for 55 plan of the European Commission affects our hub strategy in Vienna, where we have a rather small hub for long-haul services. The way Fit for 55 is now, the rules on offsetting carbon emissions and the mandates for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will make bypassing European airports more attractive for passengers. For example, flying via Istanbul will become much cheaper.” What has changed? So what has changed since October that Austrian could announce the arrival of ten Dreamliners in April? “Within Lufthansa Group, we have proven last year that we had the second-best results after SWISS. On the operational side, ours was the most reliable one. There was a lot of trust within Lufthansa Group to finally make a decision about the renewal of the widebody fleet,” says Annette Mann. “However, what is still the case is that we don’t know yet to what extent Fit for 55 will impact our hub in Vienna. The 787 is a model that in the future can easily, should it be necessary, also go to another hub within the group. We have standard configurations within the group. For the moment, the decision is that ten airplanes go to Vienna, and what we are all trying to achieve.” Mann continues: “But in five or ten years from now, if the situation changes and it becomes more difficult to operate long-haul from Vienna, there might well be a decision that we give one, two, or more aircraft back to the group and where it makes more sense. We don’t know yet.” The situation with Fit for 55 is that through taxation and offsetting, long-haul flights out of the European Union will become more expensive. This could affect the attractiveness of some hubs like Vienna, as passengers might prefer to fly via airports outside the EU that don’t tax airlines. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has expressed his concern about the carbon leakage on many occasions. One extra widebody On the arrival of the Dreamliners, Mann says: “The good thing for us is that the first 787 is not a replacement for our older aircraft, but is extra for growth to bring the number of widebodies to ten. After that, we will start to replace the 767s and later on the older 777s and then the younger ones.” The first five 787s will come from Lufthansa and are the former Hainan Airlines Dreamlines that Lufthansa itself has introduced in its fleet only since late 2022. The second batch of five will consist of newly-built aircraft. The cabin configuration of the new 787s needs to be confirmed. Lufthansa will roll out the new Allegris cabins across its own fleet from next year, with SWISS getting its own version. “We haven’t decided yet if we will follow too.” Fighting competition Not just Fit for 55 is a potential dark cloud on the horizon for Austrian and the Vienna hub. The airline has also experienced very strong competition from low-cost carriers in recent years, with Ryanair through Lauda, Wizz Air, and easyJet all taking up strong positions there. The competitive landscape continues to move in Vienna, with Austrian itself trying to defend its position. “It is still tough. However, it has changed in a way that there are no longer six different low-cost carriers but it is mainly Ryanair with Lauda. We are fighting on certain routes with them, but we manage and we are growing on short-haul with four airplanes. So we are absolutely willing to defend our position in Austria.” Austrian is looking towards a very strong summer on the back of a positive first quarter, despite a €-73 million Adjusted EBIT. “We have hired 600 new people, so we think we are well-staffed for the summer peak. Together with the airport, we think we are well-prepared. Whatever happens outside of our hub is not in our control.”

No results