Austrian Airlines revises its fleet needs

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting airlines around the world, the latest of which is Austrian Airlines, which has announced that it’s taking steps to secure its future business operations, which halted due to a worldwide grounding since 18 March.

“This year Austria’s flag carrier predicts a 25-50% drop in demand. A maximum of 75% of the pre-coronavirus level is expected by the end of 2021”, the airline said in a statement.

As part of the Lufthansa Group, the airline operates 80 aircraft and in order to continue future operations with an optimal fleet, which can meet a decreased demand, Austrian has begun retiring a number of types.

Last year, Austrian had begun withdrawing its 18 Dash Q400s. Now, the company has decided to retire seven A319s and decomission three of its six Boeing 767s.

“Since it is mainy smaller aircraft that are being decommissioned, this corresponds to a capacity reduction of around 20%” stated an airline spokesperson. Austrian is not expecting to begin flying again before 17 May.