• The first regular long-haul flights after a more than 100-day break departed today
• New York, Chicago and Washington back in the program as of today
• “Intercontinental flights get Austrian Airlines hub at Vienna Airport up and running again”, says CCO Andreas Otto

After a break of more than 100 days one of the first regular long-haul flights operated by Austrian Airlines took off from Vienna today at 10:33 a.m. as flight OS 89. The Boeing 767 with the registration OE-LAX is expected to land on time at Newark Airport in New Jersey at around 1:45 p.m. Close to one third of the aircraft is occupied, with 64 passengers on board. The return flight is fully booked. Even before the New York plane, the over-punctual OS 65 took off for Chicago. Shortly thereafter, the third long-haul flight followed with OS 93 to Washington. The restart to Bangkok is also scheduled for July. All these above-mentioned destinations will be served three times per week each, with all flights featuring a Boeing 767 aircraft.

“Long-haul routes comprise the supreme discipline in Austrian aviation", says Austrian Airlines CCO Andreas Otto. "Therefore, after such a long interruption, we are of course especially pleased to be able to offer intercontinental flights again and thereby get our hub at Vienna Airport up and running again."

The entry from Austria into the USA is currently not allowed. However, there are exceptions which enable Austrian Airlines to operate these flights nevertheless. This applies, for example, to transfer passengers from outside the Schengen area, such as Israel, as well as Green Card holders, US citizens and their family members, persons with diplomatic status respectively employees of the United Nations.

The last regularly scheduled Austrian Airlines long-haul flight before the forced coronavirus break, departing from Chicago, landed in Vienna on 19 March 2020. In the meantime, Austrian Airlines carried out various repatriation flights from South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, amongst other places. Transport flights for medical supplies from China and Malaysia also took place and will be continued in July.

"Slowly but surely, aviation is returning. The resumption of long-haul flights by Austrian Airlines is an important impulse for the entire tourism industry. Even though it will take some time to reach pre-crisis levels, Vienna as a location for aviation is taking further steps to overcome the crisis with the new long-haul connections", explains Julian Jäger, Member of the Executive Board of Flughafen Wien AG.

Passengers will find up-to-date information on the issues of travelling in a time marked by the coronavirus, the flight schedule, face mask requirements, immigration regulations and rebooking rules on the Austrian Airlines Website. The information is continuously updated.