In June: Austrian Flies to Berlin & Düsseldorf with Their New Boeing 787 Dreamliners

Last year, Austrian Airlines revealed its plan to modernize its long-haul fleet. Boeing 787 Dreamliners will replace the existing fleet of Boeing 767 and 777 in the future. And it’s happening faster than planned: The first new long-haul aircraft are set to join the fleet by the end of February and are coming from Vietnamese Bamboo Airways.

Before these planes go into service for North American routes in the summer, there will be a few test runs within Europe. The first of these flights is now available for booking. Austrian Airlines has scheduled the new Boeing 787 on selected routes to Berlin and Düsseldorf. Notably, these correlate with the Austrian matches in the UEFA European Football Championship.

Warning

Austrian Airlines can switch aircraft at any time, so you might end up with a regular Airbus A320 or similar. This risk appears to be quite high currently, four months in advance and without an official announcement from the airline.

Boeing 787 Flight Schedule to Germany

As of February 19, 2024, Austrian has planned the Dreamliner on a total of 10 flights in June 2024. The flight times align with the matches of the Austrian national team in Düsseldorf (on June 17, 2024) and Vienna (on June 25, 2024).

The following flights with the 787 are currently available for booking:

June 17, 2024:
- OS 151 Vienna VIE – Düsseldorf DUS: 07:15 – 08:45
- OS 152: Düsseldorf DUS – Vienna VIE: 10:00 – 11:30
- OS 153: Vienna VIE – Düsseldorf DUS: 12:45 – 14:15
- OS 154: Düsseldorf DUS – Vienna VIE: 15:30 – 17:00
June 18, 2024:
- OS 151 Vienna VIE – Düsseldorf DUS: 07:15 – 08:45
- OS 152: Düsseldorf DUS – Vienna VIE: 10:00 – 11:30
- OS 153: Vienna VIE – Düsseldorf DUS: 12:45 – 14:15
- OS 154: Düsseldorf DUS – Vienna VIE: 15:30 – 17:00
June 26, 2024:
- OS 231: Vienna VIE – Berlin BER: 15:00 – 16:10
- OS 232: Berlin BER – Vienna VIE: 17:25 – 18:40

Cabin Features of the “new” Boeing 787

The aircraft are not brand new to Austrian but come from the inventory of Bamboo Airways in Vietnam. The airline recently announced its withdrawal from long-haul routes, leading to the sale of Boeing 787s, which Austrian has now acquired.

It is expected that Austrian will retain the seats from Bamboo Airways, at least initially. This is reflected in the seat map for the June flights. Accordingly, there are:

26 seats in business class
21 seats in premium economy class
- sold on flights within Europe as economy class
247 seats in economy class (79 cm seat pitch)

Of particular interest is the “new” business class, featuring Collins Super Diamond seats. These are the same seats found in Air Canada and British Airways (Club Suite, with a door there). While they have been on the market for a few years, they are still considered among the best available.

Austrian Airlines will probably take over the seats of Bamboo Airways, which look like this (© Bamboo Airways)

Bookable from €94 one-way

Flights on the Dreamliner are now available for booking on Lufthansa.com, Austrian.com, and others. However, the prices are not particularly attractive. For instance, a roundtrip from Vienna to Berlin starts at €285 in economy class. It looks slightly better when starting from Germany:

One way from Düsseldorf to Vienna for €94 (on June 17)
Roundtrip from Düsseldorf to Vienna for €147 (outbound on 787, from June 17 to 22)

Especially appealing is the opportunity to travel in a premium economy seat with an economy ticket. A corresponding seat reservation costs only €20 extra in the Light fare, likely free for Senators. The 2-3-2 arrangement in the first three rows is easily visible during seat selection.

It should be noted that Berlin and Düsseldorf probably won’t be the only destinations in Europe, and there could be additional Dreamliner rotations even before the mentioned period.

Source: AeroRoutes