Austrian Airlines is upgrading its catering on long haul flights as of mid-June 2023, and is promising “Austrian pleasure above the clouds” (lol?).
In this post:
Austrian’s new “Tastefully Austrian” menu on long haul flights
If you ask me, Austrian has the best business class soft product of any Lufthansa Group airline, and it’s about to get even better. During the pandemic, Austrian eliminated its “Flying Chefs,” though they’ve been brought back as of the spring of 2023. With that, we’re also seeing improvements to catering.
Essentially we can expect the full return of Austrian’s pre-pandemic catering, and then some. Austrian’s new long haul catering concept is called “Tastefully Austrian.” In long haul business class, Austrian will change the following:
- A bar snack will be offered in conjunction with the welcome drink
- A soup will be added with the starter
- Passengers will be able to choose between two international main courses and one Austrian signature dish
- Austrian’s signature coffee service will once again be expanded to how it was pre-pandemic, with an even more impressive selection
- After dessert, a separate cheese trolly with digestive options will be presented
There will also be improvements in premium economy and economy, though not as substantial. Austrian states that in these cabins, we can expect new recipes and creations.
Here’s how Austrian Airlines COO Michael Trestl describes these changes:
We aim to provide our guests with a flying piece of Austria – a culinary experience the Austrian way. We are proud to return to our former strength with our new long-haul concept and to bring Austrian culinary excellence to our passengers at the highest level.”
Austrian will be a force to be reckoned with
I recently flew Austrian’s 777 business class from Chicago to Vienna, and had an excellent flight. Austrian’s soft product was already very good, and it’s about to get even better. It’s amazing just how much better Austrian’s business class soft product is than Lufthansa’s.
The thing is, Austrian’s fleet is rather outdated. The airline flies Boeing 767s and 777s on long haul routes, which aren’t exactly cutting edge. Fortunately it’s expected that Austrian will take delivery of 10 Boeing 787s between 2024 and 2028, which should greatly help with modernizing the carrier’s fleet.
It’s not entirely clear what the hard product will be like on these jets, though no matter what, it should be a huge improvement.
As we know, Lufthansa is rolling out a new business class product, which will be known as Allegris. This is launching in late 2023 on Boeing 787-9s, and in 2024 on Airbus A350-900s. I suspect Austrian will have its own version of the product, just as SWISS does.
However, it’s also possible that Austrian takes over some of Lufthansa’s existing 787s, featuring interiors that were intended for Hainan.
Bottom line
Austrian Airlines is improving its catering on long haul flights as of mid-June 2023, with the introduction of its “Tastefully Austrian” concept. The changes in business class should be substantial, and at least match the product that was available pre-pandemic.
This will make Austrian’s soft product even better. When you combine it with the 787s joining Austrian’s fleet in 2024, there’s a lot to look forward to at the airline.
What do you make of Austrian’s catering changes?
That's an embarrassment of riches in terms of whipped cream in that Einspanner (and looks very similar to the one you had back in January).
This isn’t the Einspänner - mocca with a cap of whipped cream - but the Eiskaffee: double espresso with vanilla ice and a decking of whipped cream. Has pretty much the same calorie load as the Strudel.
Did they bring back the ability to upgrade Y catering? I once upgraded and got the schnitzel in Y. I found it kinda fun and the food was outstanding.
No one goes to Austria for the food and I certainly wouldn’t fly Austrian for the catering…
disgruntled german detected
I would only fly OS long-haul business on a perdominately daytime flight. You can only appreciate the meal services then, and I imagine the sleeping arrangements on a nighttime longhaul would be a disaster.
I flew, business class, from Vienna to NYC in April. The best food and the most attentive service that I’ve ever had in business class - apart from Etihad, which was also outstanding. Far far better than United, for example.
I'd put OS J catering, pre pandemic, in competition for second or third with QR, with TK beating both.
what a joke, QR win, this is simply no comparison, LH group serve red and white wine 10usd in business (tested recently on LX JNB to ZRH) and 17-25usd (exception was one Barolo) in first class (LH HND-FRA), yes i checked all the menu in wine-searcher after I realised that everything was meh.
My last year flight with OS last year was not better than LX. And this antic plane (seat, toilet).. food was nothing...
what a joke, QR win, this is simply no comparison, LH group serve red and white wine 10usd in business (tested recently on LX JNB to ZRH) and 17-25usd (exception was one Barolo) in first class (LH HND-FRA), yes i checked all the menu in wine-searcher after I realised that everything was meh.
My last year flight with OS last year was not better than LX. And this antic plane (seat, toilet).. food was nothing to remember, and no dine on demand, who like the forced wake up time ?
For now, I will just avoid LH group. End of the story.
Austrian uses DO&CO catering while the rest of LH group uses Gategroup. Unfortunately that won't change any time soon. When LH sold LSG Skychef Europe to Gategroup, it signed a long-term contract for Gategroup to cater flights from LH's Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich hubs. For Frankfurt and Munich, the catering operations are still partially owned by LH through a joint venture.
While I've never flown Austrian, I know that British Airways also uses DO&CO...
Austrian uses DO&CO catering while the rest of LH group uses Gategroup. Unfortunately that won't change any time soon. When LH sold LSG Skychef Europe to Gategroup, it signed a long-term contract for Gategroup to cater flights from LH's Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich hubs. For Frankfurt and Munich, the catering operations are still partially owned by LH through a joint venture.
While I've never flown Austrian, I know that British Airways also uses DO&CO for business class, and no one raves about BA catering. It must be that Austrian pays a DO&CO a premium for a high quality product, as an airline caterer ultimately delivers something within the airline's per meal price point.
Exactly....the airline tells the catering company exactly what they want on the flight. So no matter what catering company BA uses in the U.S., the product should be the same rather they fly out of SFO, LAX, JFK, etc.
But Lufthansa uses DO&CO catering in their First Class lounges at Frankfurt...not sure if they do at Munich as well.
People may not rave about BA's food, but it is pretty good and gets good reviews in most trip reports. I think BA's long term reputation for bad food precedes it, as most people who fly BA these days are surprised in a good way at how much better the food is.
No it's no more DO&CO in FRA, changed 1st of May.
Ugh.
These changes sound nice at first, but...didn't they offer soup with the appetizer pre-Covid? So that's something they are bringing back as an improvement, not something new. Also, while it's nice that one of the mains will be Austrian, it's still only a choice of 3 mains, which is the number of main dishes they currently offer. And having a separate cheese trolley isn't something extra, it's just cheese being served after dessert, not with...
These changes sound nice at first, but...didn't they offer soup with the appetizer pre-Covid? So that's something they are bringing back as an improvement, not something new. Also, while it's nice that one of the mains will be Austrian, it's still only a choice of 3 mains, which is the number of main dishes they currently offer. And having a separate cheese trolley isn't something extra, it's just cheese being served after dessert, not with dessert.
Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see changes/improvements, but it seems these changes are just superficial window dressing and nothing more.
"Austrian has the best business class soft product of any Lufthansa Group airline"
Well, I have to admit I prefer LX over OS. Not to mention the mess at VIE.
There's definitely an improvement needed of Longhaul planes at OS. Those 767's are more than outdated. Is there currently any other European using them?
I think even most low-cost and charter airlines in Europe have phased out their 767s.
But in general, the LH Group’s fleet planning has been a mess from transferring LH planes to Eurowings and the back-and-forth exchange of A330s/ A340s between Swiss and Edelweiss.
Like even before Covid, it was a mess.
Same here. Flew LX many times and flew OS last summer (YUL-VIE and VIE-ORD) and I really wasn't impressed with the catering. Hoefully most of that was covid related cutbacks, but the 4 LX flights I took during the same period were all better. Vienna really isn't a food city aside from the desserts.
Vienna isn’t a food city? You really don’t know Vienna then.
@ Karl,
Agree on that! Vienna is a Great city for food.
What mess at VIE? It's one of the easist airports in Europe
I was also surprised by that comment. VIE is my home airport and it's extremely easy airport to travel to/from/via. The only downside I see is the abysmal OS lounge, and the painfully slow bag delivery (often 20-30 minutes wait upon arrival) but those are fairly minor issues.
@ Arnold,
One of the easiest I wouldn't call it, we have much more better ones but also worse.
“Austrian pleasure above the clouds” (lol?).
Reminds me of the Indiana Jones scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVGtLAYRDA
Thanks for this. i have options to return to the US late June including Austrian. I think this has sealed the deal — Austrian in biz it is UNLESS LH F comes available.