First Austrian Airlines 777 with new business class is in service!

First Austrian Airlines 777 with new business class is in service!

18

Woohoo!

Back in October Austrian announced a new business class product which was supposed to be installed on their entire longhaul fleet by April 2013. Unfortunately they’ve had a substantial delay due to the certification process of the new seats, as the first aircraft was supposed to be reconfigured by November of last year.

Well, the great news is that I was just forwarded a press release indicating that the first reconfigured 777 is in service, and is operating as OS45 to the Maldives tonight.

This makes me feel much more at ease about my flight later this month which is scheduled to be operated by one of their reconfigured 777s.

Anyway, just figured I’d post this update that they seem to be making progress. I suspect they’ll still have their entire fleet reconfigured before the summer, which is great since they still have excellent award availability for then.

Conversations (18)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. adnan Guest

    Not sure if bangladesh falls in Asia ir middle easr/ india

  2. sdbalsl Guest

    I recall thinking that the footwell was quite narrow. I also recall the footwell getting quite warm during the flight, presumably because of all the motors and electronics in the seat above it.

  3. Andrew Guest

    sdbalsl Hopefully you see this, do you by chance remember if 1k had a larger footwell? Trying to figure out what has the greatest foot space as i'm a pretty big dude.

  4. sdbalsl Guest

    Just flew OS51 and OS52 Vienna-Narita-Vienna in a B777 with renovated seating. In biz class, please note: odd numbered rows have a single seat on the window position- practically a first-class level seat! I sat in 3A and 1K. All other seat positions have two seats in a side-by-side config. My seats were very comfortable for the most part. Lots of room for laying out your stuff. Entertainment screen is touch and very high quality....

    Just flew OS51 and OS52 Vienna-Narita-Vienna in a B777 with renovated seating. In biz class, please note: odd numbered rows have a single seat on the window position- practically a first-class level seat! I sat in 3A and 1K. All other seat positions have two seats in a side-by-side config. My seats were very comfortable for the most part. Lots of room for laying out your stuff. Entertainment screen is touch and very high quality. Programming was average. Minor seat complaints: (1) the touch screen for the seat control is located in a place where my arm naturally rested, therefore I inadvertantly changed my seat setting several times. (2) the seat cushions are air filled- during full recline I felt the air pumps activating every 10 minutes or so. Overall I give it an 8.5/10

  5. Galen Guest

    Major delays with the New Business Class. Visit their website to confirm your flight has the new config....there's a calendar you check with....Toronto delayed until September.

  6. RakSiam Diamond

    I thought the press releases all said that the whole long-haul fleet of 777s and 767s would be fitted with the new interiors. And it is supposed to be done by end of April.

    The 767 I am supposed to take VIE-IAD shows new config for the summer.

  7. Matt Guest

    I have NRT-VIE on 777,
    YYZ-VIE on 767 and both show the new config
    seats.
    777 is scattered and the 767 is 1-2-1 config
    Really love it. These are for flights starting in April 2013.

  8. lucky OMAAT

    @ Bryce -- They're eventually going to upgrade about half of the 767s with the new business class. I assume the others will be retired sooner rather than later.

  9. Bryce New Member

    Do you know if there's a plan as far as the 767s are concerned? Are those to be upgraded after the 777s or kinda mixed together?

  10. lucky OMAAT

    @ Kai -- I would go with Austrian since it's a two cabin airline, while Swiss is a three cabin airline. I find that service tends to be better in business class when there's not a first class cabin.

  11. Kai Member

    Would you recommend going for OS or LX? Similar seats, but was wondering how the overall experiences are.

  12. Tom / SitInFirst.com Guest

    I've flown Austrian J across the ocean a few times...their food is fine...strong by US standards, good by European carrier standards.

    BA remains the best all-in J service across the Atlantic. The backwards lie-flats keep your head above your feet (very important). Nothing to constrain your feet (unlike the little boxes your feet have to go in with these staggered lie flats). Pre-flight dining gives you more time to sleep on these short flights. Principally...

    I've flown Austrian J across the ocean a few times...their food is fine...strong by US standards, good by European carrier standards.

    BA remains the best all-in J service across the Atlantic. The backwards lie-flats keep your head above your feet (very important). Nothing to constrain your feet (unlike the little boxes your feet have to go in with these staggered lie flats). Pre-flight dining gives you more time to sleep on these short flights. Principally 747 service. Best in class arrivals facilities in LHR.

  13. lucky OMAAT

    @ Zz -- Last time I was there I stayed at Le Meridien, which I really enjoyed. Full trip report here:
    https://onemileatatime.com/four-continents-and-37000-miles-in-two-weeks-le-meridien-vienna/

  14. Zz Guest

    Where do you stay at in Vienna?

  15. lucky OMAAT

    @ Tom -- Because:
    a) I love Vienna and it's a great stopover city.
    b) Austrian apparently has among the best business class catering of any airline, so that's a reason to fly them.
    c) While this product is somewhat common on airlines like Brussels, Swiss, etc., which airline offers a better product to Europe? US Airways is the only one I can think of, though I think their soft product leaves something to be desired.

  16. Tom / SitInFirst.com Guest

    Why are you excited about this? It is an old seating product at this point, and offers some of the least sleeping room of any of the common J products. Frankly, it is raason enough NOT to fly OS.

  17. lucky OMAAT

    @ David -- I'd say it's one of the best/most economical business class options. Unfortunately they just don't release very much business class award space on the route in my experience.

  18. David Member

    How does this rate as an option to get to MLE?

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

adnan Guest

Not sure if bangladesh falls in Asia ir middle easr/ india

0
sdbalsl Guest

I recall thinking that the footwell was quite narrow. I also recall the footwell getting quite warm during the flight, presumably because of all the motors and electronics in the seat above it.

0
Andrew Guest

sdbalsl Hopefully you see this, do you by chance remember if 1k had a larger footwell? Trying to figure out what has the greatest foot space as i'm a pretty big dude.

0
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published