First Flight: Austrian Airlines VIE to MUC

Linda Blachly Kurt Hofmann

New Guidelines

Credit: Kurt Hofmann Airport signs remind passengers of new guidelines on wearing masks and physical distancing. On the left side of the picture, more flights continue to show up on departure screens.

Masked customer service representatives

Credit: Kurt Hofmann Masked customer service representatives greet early-morning masked passengers at Vienna Airport for check-in.

Physical distancing

Credit: Kurt Hofmann Austrian check-in area shows yellow floor decals indicating physical distancing rules. Vienna Airport expects only 10,000-20,000 departing passengers per day in July and August 2020, compared to 100,000 passengers per day during the year-ago summer months.

CEOs welcome passengers

Credit: Kurt Hofmann Vienna Airport CEO Julian Jaeger (left) and Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech join Austrian Airlines’ staff to welcome passengers on the first flight, in the early morning hours of June 15.

Austrian Airlines employees welcome first passengers

Credit: Kurt HofmannMany Austrian Airlines employees welcome first passengers. CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech said there are no layoffs planned within the next two years as short-time working—implemented after the COVID-19 outbreak—will continue. The carrier’s 7,000 employees will make an accumulated crisis contribution of about €300 million ($339 million) in salary forfeitures.

Social distancing on airbridge

Credit: Kurt HofmannSigns on the airbridge floor remind passengers to physical distance. Future new boarding procedures are still being tested.

Operating smaller aircraft

Credit: Kurt Hofmann From June 15, Austrian Airlines is mainly operating smaller aircraft, such as the Embraer E195, Dash 8 Q400s and several Airbus A320s. However, the carrier will only use around 30% of its fleet during the summer, which could increase to 50% by year-end. The remaining fleet will be flown from Vienna to other airports for long-term storage.

Pilots and crew prepared to fly

Credit: Kurt Hofmann Captain Rudolf Buchsteiner at the controls. During the grounding, Austrian Airlines’ cockpit crews continued to use flight simulators to keep the professional level of its cockpit crews as high as possible.

Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech

Credit: Kurt Hofmann Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech during the 40-min. flight to Munich. He said the carrier is only operating 5% of its capacity at the restart. “That means we actually don’t operate. We hope to operate 20% in July, then 30% and by the end of the year 50% of capacity. By 2022-23, we hope to be back to 80% capacity like before the crisis.”

Onboard services

Credit: Kurt HofmannOnboard services have been reduced. In business class, only cold snacks will be served.

Masks are mandatory

Credit: Kurt HofmannWearing a mask during flights is mandatory for both passengers and crew. The carrier has 3,000 flight attendants.

Load factor around 70% on first day

Credit: Kurt HofmannAustrian Airlines achieved an overall load factor of around 70% on its first day of restarting operations.

Munich Airport

Credit: Kurt HofmannMunich Airport, Lufthansa Group’s second largest hub, has also handled more flights since June 15. Here, a lone Airbus A319 is parked at the main terminal. Munich’s Lufthansa satellite terminal remains completely closed.

More social distancing reminders

Credit: Kurt HofmannLufthansa boarding gate. Physical distancing reminders are everywhere throughout the airport.

Munich Airport terminal

Credit: Kurt HofmannThe Munich Airport terminal, which in pre-COVID-19 times was bustling with passengers at shopping and restaurant facilities, now sees many fewer customers.

Lounges closed

Credit: Kurt HofmannAll Lufthansa lounges at Munich Airport are closed, except one in the Schengen Area of Terminal 2.

Austrian Airlines Embraer E195 awaits boarding

Credit: Kurt HofmannAustrian Airlines Embraer E195 awaits boarding for the next flight to Vienna. In the background, Lufthansa Group’s satellite terminal—which remains closed—is surrounded by new Airbus A350-900s, most of which are not flying.

Entry and Transit Declaration form

Credit: Kurt HofmannAir traffic between Austria and Germany is traditionally strong; however, every passenger must fill out an Entry and Transit Declaration form to disembark the aircraft.

Arriving temperature check

Credit: Kurt HofmannPassengers arriving at Vienna Airport must undergo an automatic temperature check.

Austrian Airlines, which temporarily suspended regular operations March 18 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, restarted flights from Vienna International Airport June 15. The Lufthansa subsidiary will slowly increase operations from Vienna over the next several weeks.

Correspondent Kurt Hofmann was onboard Austrian’s first flight to Munich aboard an Embraer E195, and brings exclusive photos of what post-COVID-19-travel looks like from airport to onboard the aircraft.

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Linda Blachly

Linda Blachly is Senior Associate Editor for Air Transport World and Aviation Week. She joined the company in July 2010 and is responsible for producing features for Air Transport World’s monthly magazine and engaging content for the aviationweek.com. She is based in the Washington DC office.

Kurt Hofmann

Kurt Hofmann has been writing on the airline industry for nearly 25 years for a number of different media outlets in Europe. He appears frequently on…

Comments

2 Comments

Registered User

Sat, 06/20/2020 - 02:24

GREAT messages, with 19 photos (in the large size with text); but REALLY bad small photos that I can copy... but will not because they
are sooo poor. PLEASE email the good 'stuff' at <jgodston@gmail.com> Thanks! Joel Godston, a pilot for 50+ years