Austrian Airlines has outlined plans to resume flights to over 20 destinations this summer, driven by anticipated increased demand for vacation travel.
Following “a short peak” in schedules during the Christmas period, the carrier is running at just 15 per cent capacity during January and February.
But Austrian said that it would “slowly increase flight schedules” between now and the summer, resuming 20 destinations including short-haul routes to Barcelona, Dubrovnik, Florence, Gothenburg, Kosice, Krakow, Lviv, Odessa and Oslo, as well as intercontinental services to Amman, Bangkok, Chicago and Tokyo.
The airline plans to offer up to 150 flights per week to vacation destinations this summer, with the main focus being on routes to Greece and Cyprus. It added that “Italy, Spain, and Turkey are also the hopefuls for the summer of 2021”.
Austrian will also operate summer flights between Vienna and Hanover for the first time since 2009, taking over an existing service by Lufthansa Group carrier Eurowings. The route will begin as a twice weekly service from March 25, increasing to two flights per day from July.
“We are expecting increased demand in the tourism sector in summer and are therefore increasing our offer to vacation destinations by up to 20 per cent from July”, said Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl.
“The booking phase for the 2021 vacation season is currently underway. With our expanded flight schedule, we want to create an attractive vacation offer for all Austrians. Of course, further development is highly dependent on the progress of the pandemic and the associated travel policies.”
Earlier this week Business Traveller reported that fellow Lufthansa Group carrier Swiss has extended capacity cuts at Geneva until late March, with no more than 20 flights per week from the airport over the period.
