Airlines

Spotlight on Austria, Austrian Airlines

Austrian Airlines reports its aircraft will continue to be visible in Canadian airspace this summer, even as codeshare partner Air Canada’s planes will be the ones physically linking Toronto and Vienna.

Sherif Sedhom of the Lufthansa Group’s Toronto office told a Tuesday Toronto gathering that plans call for Air Canada aircraft to be carrying passengers between the cities as of April 29.

But he noted the same date will see Austrian Airlines travelling between Montreal and Vienna, with service reaching daily flights in the summer.

“This doesn’t mean that Austrian Airlines won’t be flying to Canada,” he said of the Air Canada aircraft being used to link the Ontario and Austrian capitals. “Austrian Airlines will be flying to Montreal instead.”

Air Canada has decided to use a B787 Dreamliner on the Toronto route.

Sedhom said Austrian Airlines serves around 85 destinations from Vienna, having a particularly strong network in Central and Eastern Europe. “This has always been Austrian Airlines’ forte.”

The carrier has seven lounges at Vienna’s airport.

He said the airline – which says it offers “The Charming Way to Fly” – has been said by authoritative Skytrax to offer the best airline staff service in Europe for five straight years.

Austria’s musical heritage was repeatedly referenced during the gathering, with Pablo Bolanos of Vienna’s Mozart Orchestra saying tourists can visit “places where the history” of music was made.

Vienna’s musical scene is underscored in part by its famed waltzes.

Toronto-based consul and trade commissioner Christian Lassnig noted Salzburg is another city synonymous with music, among other things being the setting for the movie The Sound of Music.

Pictured are Lassnig; Karin Pinell of the Lufthansa Group; Sedhom; Birgitta Samavarchian, Advantage Austria; Rudolph Nareen, International Institute of Travel; Angela Bokma, The Travel Corporation; and Sabina Steffensen, Air Canada.