Austrian Airlines will temporarily suspend flight operations as of Thursday, March 19, due to entry restrictions imposed by many countries as a result of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
A subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, Austrian Airlines is the flag carrier of Austria. Headquartered in Vienna, it flies to six domestic and more than 120 international year-round and 55 seasonal destinations, and it is a member of the Star Alliance.
For the time being, the last flight with flight number OS 066 will land in Vienna from Chicago at 8:20 a.m. on March 19. Until then, flight operations will be reduced in a controlled and structured manner in order to bring all passengers and crews home if possible, according to a statement from the airline. Initially Austrian Airlines will cancel all flights until March 28, and passengers who have booked a flight with Austrian Airlines during this period will be rebooked on other airlines if possible.
Other Lufthansa Group airlines will further reduce their short- and long-haul schedule. The cancellations, which will be published as early as tomorrow, March 17, will lead to a sharp decline in long-haul service, especially in the Middle East, Africa and Central and South America. Overall, the Lufthansa Group's seating capacity on long-haul routes will be reduced by up to 90 percent. A total of 1,300 weekly connections were originally planned for summer 2020.
Further schedule reductions are also planned within Europe. Starting tomorrow, around 20 percent of the originally planned seating capacity will still be offered. Originally, some 11,700 weekly short-haul flights were planned for summer 2020 with Lufthansa Group airlines.
The additional cancellations will be published over the next few days and passengers will be informed accordingly.
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