· Additional long haul aircraft will be transferred from Hong Kong to Vienna with flight number OS 1472 tomorrow
· Two Eurofighter-jets of the Austrian Air Force will accompany OS 1472 within the context of an interception training held by the Austrian Armed Forces
· The Boeing 777 is of high importance to the Vienna flight hub and creates 150 additional jobs
The big event is approaching just one day from now: Austrian Airlines is going to welcome its new Boeing 777 at its home airport in Vienna. The long-haul aircraft with the registration OE-LPF was modified in Hong Kong and adapted to meet the standards of Austrian Airlines over a period of four months. After a successful acceptance flight the Boeing 777 will be transferred to Vienna already tomorrow. The flight with the flight number OS 1472 is scheduled to depart at 3 a.m. local time from Hong Kong and is supposed to arrive in Vienna at 2:40 p.m. local time after flight time of nearly 12 hours.
Eurofighter-jets accompany OS 1472 as part of an interception training
As soon as flight OS 1472 will reach the Austrian airspace, it will be accompanied by two Eurofighter-jets of the Austrian Air Force until it lands at Vienna Airport within the context of an interception training held by the Austrian Armed Forces. As part of this tactical exercise, a go-around maneuver of flight OS 1472 is planned at Vienna Airport before landing. The interception training depends on the weather conditions. If the weather is good, interested people will have the opportunity to observe the landing live from the Visitors Terrace of Vienna Airport. The exact landing time is not exactly predictable, as thunderstorms are to be expected tomorrow in Vienna.
Boeing 777 will transport about 150,000 passengers per year
“The additional Boeing 777 offers room for 306 passengers and will transport about 150,000 passengers per year. In this way it is of major importance to the Austrian business location. The tourism sector as well as the labor market and the infrastructure in Austria will benefit from the new aircraft”, states Austrian Airlines CEO Kay Kratky. The Boeing 777 was leased from the Irish aircraft lessor AerCap for a period of eight years and represents an investment value of about EUR 60 million including conversion costs. The value as new of the world’s largest twin-engine passenger jet is about EUR 200 million. About 150 employees are required to operate such an aircraft (110 flight attendants, 30 pilots, five station employees and five technicians). This wide-bodied jet has a seating capacity of 306 people (38 Business Class, 24 Premium Economy and 244 Economy Class).