Austrian Airlines has just announced two new routes. Austrian returns to Tokyo and South Africa. Lufthansa Flyer, a fellow blogger here at BoardingArea reports that Austrian will begin these routes in 2018. Tokyo flights will begin in the summer. Flights to Cape Town will begin during October. Both of these flights will be operated by their 777s. The airline will be adding one more of these aircraft in the coming months, raising the total number of aircraft to 6.

What does this mean?

In my opinion, Austrian has the market motivation for the flights to Cape Town and Tokyo. This demand is probably incentivized by their Star Alliance partners in each of these cities. At Cape Town, Austrian passengers can connect on South African Airways flights and vice versa. On the flights to Tokyo, they can have a mutual relationship with ANA. This makes the flights more lucrative, and adds possibility for connecting services beyond Vienna, Tokyo or Cape Town.

With fuel prices at a stable level, airlines are increasingly adding flights to different destinations. We have seen British Airways expand, Spirit Airlines add destinations in the US, and Norwegian take on the “big kids” in the transatlantic market. The time is perfect for airlines to add new routes. With better aircraft, such as the 787 and the A350, we can expect to see more new routes added in the coming future.

Why I am excited for these routes

As some of you may know, I am a religious OneWorld flyer. I hold American Airlines’ highest elite status, and usually leverage my miles on their flights. However, I do have a good set of points on American Express, as well as other currencies. I decided to use some of the miles to book a flight from London to New York via Vienna on Austrian. Their business class blew me away. I am writing a report, and you can expect that soon. In summary, it ranks as the top five airlines I have ever traveled on in business class.

Landing Thoughts

I am a huge fan of airlines adding routes. It provides competition and options for travelers. Austrian has a solid business class and great service. They finally have the economics to operate these routes once again, alongside their Star Alliance partners. I haven’t tried Austrian’s 777 business class, so if I ever have a chance I will look into them as options from Europe to South Africa or Tokyo.

What do you think? Have you flown Austrian? Would you travel with them to Tokyo or Cape Town? Let us know!

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