My flight from Newark to Vienna was scheduled to depart at 5:50PM, so I headed in the direction of my departure gate around 4PM. Austrian Airlines departs from Terminal B at Newark Airport, which is a separate concourse.
To access it from Terminal C you can either exit security and then reclear, or you can take the airside connector bus, which is available to passengers making Star Alliance connections. The transfer shuttle is located near gate 71, which is about a five minute walk from the Polaris Lounge.
Newark Airport terminal transfer
There an agent verified my boarding pass, and then directed me down to a bus, which left within a few minutes.
Newark Airport terminal transfer
Terminal B was insanely busy, which isn’t surprising given the number of transatlantic flights departing from there. I briefly stopped in the Lufthansa Lounge, though there wasn’t a single open seat. That made me even happier about having visited the Polaris Lounge.
Newark Airport terminal
My Austrian flight was departing from gate B60, which was at the end of the concourse. My boarding pass indicated that boarding was scheduled to start at 4:50PM, though it ended up starting 10 minutes late, at 5PM.
Austrian departure gate Newark Airport
Austrian 90
Newark (EWR) – Vienna (VIE)
Thursday, June 28
Depart: 5:50PM
Arrive: 8:25AM (+1 day)
Duration: 8hr35min
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Seat: 5K (Business Class)
Austrian’s 767 business class cabin consists of a total of 26 staggered seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration. There are seven rows, though the last row only has one seat on each side, and there are no seats in the center.
Austrian 767 business class cabin
Along the windows, seats alternate between being closer to the window and closer to the aisle. Seats in even numbered rows are closer to the aisle, and wouldn’t be my first choice, since they feel more exposed, and you’re also further from the window, so you can’t look out as easily.
Austrian business class seat 767
Austrian business class seat 767
Window seats in odd numbered rows are closer to the windows, and are much more private.
Austrian 767 business class seat
In the center section seats also alternate every row, with one seat being closer to the aisle, and one being more in the center.
Austrian business class seat 767
I assigned myself seat 5K, the window seat on the right side in the fifth row, towards the back of the cabin.
Austrian 767 business class seat
Staggered business class seats aren’t my favorite to begin with, and these are especially tight, given that the 767 is a narrow plane. Of course I’m grateful to have a flat bed at all, but as far as flat bed business class seats go, this is among my least favorite. It’s just so tight, both around the shoulders, and also where your feet go.
Below is a picture of the footwell, which is even tighter than it looks. When in bed mode I couldn’t even turn my feet inside the footwell.
Austrian business class seat legroom
The seats don’t have much storage, though to the left of the seat is a counter, where you could leave a laptop or iPad during the flight.
Austrian business class seat console
Then the seat controls are on a surface to the side as well. It’s easy to accidentally bump these. I did it all the time, as I rested my elbow on the counter by the seat, and sometimes it accidentally adjusted my seat position. Oops.
Austrian business class seat controls
Also to the left of the seat were entertainment controls, which had a mouse feature that I’m not particularly fond of.
Austrian business class entertainment controls
The tray table folds out from the left side of the seat, and can be folded in half.
Austrian business class tray table
These types of seats hands down have the world’s most complicated tray tables. They’re so complicated that they put instructions on them for how to use them, and they make it look much easier than it actually is.
Austrian business class tray table instructions
Behind that and to the left was a reading light, 110v outlet, USB outlet, the headphone jack, and a small storage pocket that’s maybe big enough for a phone.
Austrian business class seat features
Then to the front of the seat and to the left was a literature pocket, which is where the headphones and amenity kit were during boarding.
Austrian business class seat literature pocket
I thought the headphones were reasonably good quality for business class.
Austrian business class headphones
The amenity kit was in fact just a shoe bag, which I found to be an interesting concept. It had socks, eyeshades, earplugs, a toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm, and face cream.
Austrian business class amenity kit
Also waiting at my seat were a pillow and blanket, which I found to be both stylish and very well padded and comfortable.
Austrian business class pillow & blanket
On the 767 everyone boards through the forward door, so the boarding process is much more hectic than on other planes. About 20 minutes after settling in, the crew passed through the cabin with newspapers and magazines.
Then another 10 minutes later pre-departure drinks were offered, with the choice between apple juice, orange juice, and water. I found it to be cheap that they don’t serve any pre-departure champagne (clearly this is in order to avoid having to pay the taxes on it).
Austrian business class pre-departure drink
Around this time the onboard chef passed through the cabin. He wasn’t particularly charming or engaging, but rather was to the point. He handed out the main menu, the breakfast card, and a pen, and said “please fill out the breakfast card, I will collect it soon.”
Austrian business class menu
So I started by filling out the breakfast card, which he collected a few minutes later. He also took my order for the main meal at this time.
At 5:45PM boarding was complete (the business class cabin was completely full), and the captain added his welcome onboard, informing us of our flight time of 8hr15min. Then a few minutes later the main cabin door closed.
Austrian business class cabin 767
It took a few more minutes for cargo to be loaded, and shortly before 6PM we began our pushback, at which point the safety demo was screened.
View at Newark Airport gate
There was some cool traffic during our taxi out, including a Lufthansa 747-8, WOW Air A321, and Aer Lingus A330.
Lufthansa 747-8 Newark Airport
WOW Air A321 Newark Airport
Aer Lingus A330 Newark Airport
Our taxi to the runway was pretty quick, and by 6:20PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 22R.
Taking off Newark Airport
Taking off Newark Airport
We hit a bit of chop on the climb out, and it was about 20 minutes before the seatbelt sign was turned off.
View after takeoff from Newark
Around that time warm towels were distributed, and that was followed by tablecloths being distributed.
Austrian business class warm towel
The dinner menu read as follows:
The drink list read as follows:
Austrian is known for their excellent catering, provided by DO & CO, so I was looking forward to this meal.
Just over 30 minutes after takeoff I was offered a drink with some mixed nuts. I ordered some champagne and sparkling water. Austrian serves Duval-Leroy champagne, which is alright, though nothing special
Austrian business class dinner service — table setting
About 15 minutes later I was offered the appetizer and soup. When I’ve flown Austrian in the past, they came around with an appetizer cart so you could select what you wanted, but in this case the appetizers came pre-plated. I’m not sure if that’s a general change they’ve made to their service protocol, or if this is simply because this is a shorter transatlantic flight, so the focus is on efficiency (which would be reasonable enough).
Austrian business class dinner service — appetizer and soup
The soup was a tasty tumeric pumpkin soup with coconut milk, spring onions, and cilantro.
Austrian business class dinner service — soup
Then the starter was an equally excellent beef carpaccio with fresh parmesan, arugula, pine nuts, and olive tapenade crostini.
Austrian business class dinner service — appetizer
I was also offered a selection of bread, and chose a pretzel stick.
Austrian business class dinner service — pretzel bread
For the main course I ordered the seared chicken breast with thyme jus, sweetcorn mousseline, and vegetables. It was pretty good, but I preferred the starters.
Austrian business class dinner service — main course
Once the main courses were cleared, the onboard chef passed through the cabin to distribute Austrian’s famous coffee menu. Five minutes later he returned to take coffee orders.
Austrian business class coffee menu
The coffee menu read as follows:
While the chef prepared the coffee drinks, the other flight attendants passed through the cabin with the dessert trolley, which had quite a selection to choose from. While I was already full, I figured that for the purposes of a picture I should at least order some fruit, cheese, and dessert. I had a bite of everything and enjoyed it immensely, including the mango mousse.
Austrian business class dinner service — dessert
Not that I needed yet another dessert, but shortly after my dessert I was brought my Eiscaffee. Yum, yum, yum, yum.
Austrian business class coffee
It’s not like this is actually necessary, but there’s just something I love so much about the effort they put into their coffee service. It’s cool in so many ways — they’re showcasing something that’s a big part of Austrian culture, it’s beautifully presented, and it’s also damn tasty.
Austrian business class coffee
After the meal was complete bottled water was distributed and the cabin lights were dimmed.
Austrian business class bottled water
The meal service was done just under two hours after takeoff (with 6hr15min remaining to Vienna), which I’d say is reasonably efficient given how extensive their service is. So I thought the pace was pretty good. At this point we were just Northwest of Newfoundland.
Airshow enroute to Vienna
Airshow enroute to Vienna
Airshow enroute to Vienna
As far as the service quality goes, it was just alright. The crew was pretty efficient, but they weren’t at all engaging or personalized. At no point was anyone addressed by name, and there weren’t really any smiles. At the same time, they did their jobs and weren’t bad either, so…
After the meal I visited the lavatory, located at the front of the cabin. Best I can tell they have a single lavatory for 767 business class passengers (I believe the ones behind the cabin are for economy passengers, but I could be mistaken). This is where the 767 really shows its age.
Austrian 767 business class lavatory
The bathroom did have some basic amenities, like combs, shaving kits, and more.
Austrian 767 business class lavatory amenities
Upon returning to my seat I checked out Austrian’s entertainment selection.
Austrian entertainment selection
Austrian’s entertainment selection is solid, with 86 movies and 102 TV shows. Unfortunately Austrian doesn’t offer Wi-Fi on their 767s, though.
Austrian entertainment selection
Austrian entertainment selection
I tried to sleep, but struggled to do so. The seat just felt so tight in the reclined position and the cabin was pretty warm (Austrian also doesn’t have individual air nozzles at seats). Add in the early departure out of New York and that I wasn’t actually that tired, and it was a bad combination for getting any real rest.
I ended up tossing and turning for a few hours, and eventually got up about three hours before landing. At that point I decided to watch Pitch Perfect 3, which was hilarious and stupid.
Austrian business class entertainment
About 90 minutes before landing the breakfast service began.
Airshow approaching Vienna
Airshow approaching Vienna
The breakfast card read as follows:
First warm towels were distributed, and then a couple of minutes later tablecloths and drinks were brought out, with the choice between juice and a smoothie.
Austrian business class breakfast — table setting
The entire breakfast was served on one tray, on beautiful rectangular plates. I appreciated the efficiency of serving the food on one tray, though also felt like they could have served it a bit later than 90 minutes before landing.
Austrian business class breakfast
Breakfast included some fresh fruit and muesli.
Austrian business class breakfast
Then for the main course I had an herbed ricotta omelet.
Austrian business class breakfast
The breakfast was excellent. At around 8AM local time the captain came back on the PA to advise that we’d be starting our descent soon, and that we’d be landing in about 30 minutes. Around this time the crew started to prepare the cabin for arrival.
As usual when flying to Austria, the views on descent were beautiful.
View approaching Vienna
View approaching Vienna
We touched down in Vienna at 8:30AM sharp, and from there had a short taxi to our arrival stand, where we parked next to a 777.
Taxiing Vienna Airport
Austrian 777 Vienna Airport
I quickly cleared immigration and headed to my hotel near the airport for some rest.
Austrian business class bottom line
I’m conflicted. Let’s start with the positives. Austrian’s catering is very good. It’s not quite to the level of Turkish Airlines, in my opinion, but it’s not far behind either. Their coffee menu in particular is a special treat.
The entertainment and bedding are pretty good as well.
But otherwise I’m not a huge fan of Austrian. Their staggered seats are really tight on the 767, though that’s largely also a function of it being a 767, meaning it has a narrow cabin. Austrian has the same business class seats that Delta has on their 767s, and I find these to just about be the most uncomfortable fully flat seats out there.
Lastly, the service was alright but unmemorable.
So yeah, Austrian has great catering and an excellent coffee menu, but I think that’s where my love of the product probably ends?
If you’ve flown Austrian business class lately, what was your experience like?
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