This year Austrian completes 50 years in the field of Aviation and in September Austrian completes 3 years of its operation out of Mumbai. Amey has been with Austrian since the airline started its operation from Mumbai. He talks to us about the airline's future strategies and various challenges that lie ahead.

What are your thoughts on Austrian completing 50 years in commercial aviation?
The airline was founded on 30th September 1957 and the inaugural flight was from Vienna to London on 31st March 1958. The aircraft being operated then was Vickers Vicant 779. Ever since then there has been no looking back. Today the Austrian network comprises of 130 destinations in 66 countries covering 5 continents. The Austrian Airlines Group, comprising of Austrian, Austrian Arrows and Lauda Air, operates more than 2300 flights a week in and out of Vienna Airport the “Best Connection at the Heart of Europe”.

This is the third year of Austrian's operation out of Mumbai. What has been the performance of the airline in these 3 years in terms of load factor, services offered and flight frequencies?
Austria offers daily flights from Delhi and five flights from Mumbai with an excellent midnight departure from Delhi and Mumbai with an early morning arrival into Vienna with excellent onward connections to all points in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, New York, Chicago and TorontoWe have had a very positive response from the Indian travel fraternity both from travel agents and the corporate sector. This has resulted in achieving higher load factors year on year. Our Business Class load factors Ex-Mumbai have shown a 30% growth which is a significant improvement over last year.

What are the changes made in the Business Class flight on the Mumbai - Vienna route?
Austrian introduced Lie-Flat beds in Business Class on the Mumbai route on 1st July 2007 complementing the on-board chef, fine dining and the wide selection of Austrian wines. Our Flying Coffee House with over a dozen varieties of coffee served onboard makes Austrian the most preferred carrier amongst our corporate guests. With the introduction of lie-flat beds, our Business Class uplifts on the route have increased by 30% which is heartening indeed.
 

Tell us about the USPs (Unique Selling Points) offered by Austrian to the Indian traveller, including the benefits of being part of the Star Alliance Team?
.In terms of USPs we have an excellent midnight departure from Mumbai with an early morning arrival into Vienna with immediate onward connections to entire Europe especially Central and Eastern Europe and also convenient connections to New York, Washington, Chicago and Toronto. Our weekend departures are preferred by corporate clients and transiting Vienna Airport is always considered a preferred option by most of our travellers. Apart from offering both Western and Indian cuisine, we also provide Jain meals onboard our Mumbai-Vienna-Mumbai route and our flights do cater to our valued clients.

Austrian became a member of the Star Alliance in 2000. Star Alliance is the largest and most awarded airline alliance providing many points of cooperation among its partner airlines. These benefits include the integration of frequent flyer programmes, which allow airline miles to be earned and redeemed with all members of the Alliance; access to all lounges by premium customers; coordination of flight schedules to permit travel with different carriers on a single ticket; special fares and discounts; and seamless customer service processes.

Tell us more about the cuisine offered by Austrian.
Austrian is now offering an even stronger culinary service on its long-haul Business Class flights. Six-course gourmet menus are created by Austrian and international chefs, and subsequently refined à la minute by a professional chef onboard. Business Class passengers now have the chance to enjoy this exclusive personal service from a top chef on all Austrian long-haul flights. In addition to that, Business Class passengers on long-haul flights are indulged with the Original Viennese Coffee House Service. This means that they can enjoy a selection of 11 typically Austrian coffee variations with their dessert ranging from Großer Brauner and the ever-popular Wiener Melange through to real specialities such the Wiener Fiaker. Austrian Airlines is the only airline in the world to provide this innovative service.

Economy Class passengers receive an exclusive 'Austrian Snack Box' containing delicious Austrian treats on short-haul flights which is a new, high-value service. Together with award-winning Austrian chef, Helmut Österreicher (of Vienna's Österreicher im MAK), a unique in-flight culinary product has been developed that impresses with its high level of quality and seasonal diversity. On all international flights (those between 65 and 150 minutes in flight time), depending on the time of departure, passengers will be served a freshly prepared breakfast or daytime meal in the newly developed 'Austrian Snack Box'. Austrian is also offering a diverse selection of alcoholic, non-alcoholic and hot drinks. On all domestic and 'ultra-short-haul- flights (up to 65 minutes in flight time), passengers in Economy Class will be able to enjoy a 'refreshment service' consisting of sweet and savoury snacks. Coffee, tea and water are also served as refreshments.

A hot meal is served in Economy Class on all short and medium-haul flights with a flight time of between 80 and 150 minutes. Like the cold snacks included in the Snack Service, Austrian has created these in partnership with Helmut Österreicher. The Snack Service is based on fresh and innovative Austrian cuisine and contains a range of pleasant surprises in the shape of typically Austrian delicacies such as tafelspitz, schinkenfleckerln, filling fleischlaibchen and amongst the choice of desserts kaiserschmarrn. The dishes vary according to the day and time of departure with the selection being conceived in such a way that it provides even frequent flyers with a wealth of choice.

What are your thoughts on Vienna as a hub?
Vienna is emerging as one of the most popular hubs with a short connecting time of 25 minutes, which is one of the fastest in Europe. The “4-wave-system” (a well-timed sequence of flights to and from Eastern and Western Europe) allows quick transfer in any direction whether you arrive from the West or from the East. With the best Business Class in the air, Miles & More as the Frequent Flyer Programme and membership of Star Alliance “The airline network for Earth”, Austrian Airlines serves the needs of both business and economy class travellers.

What is Austrian's AirManager tool and what are its benefits?
AirManager is Austrian's online booking programme. If you travel on a regular basis or often book flights for other people, you will appreciate the benefits of our online booking system. With AirManager you can request the availability and prices of flights with 32 airlines via the internet and make bookings up to three hours before departure. The benefits of AirManager are that you enter your profile information just once when you first register including details such as special meals, preferred departure airport, seat requests and Miles & More number. This speeds up the booking process because all personal information is already stored in AirManager the next time you book.

Furthermore, your negotiated special corporate-rates can be booked via the AirManager. You can directly reserve a specific seat using the seat map. You can also rebook and cancel flights online, as long as the ticket has not yet been issued. The ticket will be issued on the latest possible date, giving you maximum flexibility in the event of changes. You are also able to use company credit cards. If you regularly book the same flights, you can create templates to shorten the process for future bookings. Your flights can also be loaded into your PC-Calendar using MS Outlook. Payment is made by entering your credit card details via a high-security connection. You can either store your credit card details in your profile or enter them when you make your booking. You can collect your ticket from the airport ticket office or have it sent to an address of your choice. But the simplest option is to take advantage of etix.

Can you elaborate on etix and the Quick Check-in system?
'etix' is an electronic ticket . It is the fastest and most convenient way to book your flight electronically. With etix there are fewer travel documents to be carried and as such there is no possibility of tickets being lost or stolen. Booking can be done at the Austrian Airlines website or at any participating airport ticket sales office. If the respective fare regulations allow, flights can even be booked as shortly as two hours before departure. Simply provide your credit card or Miles & More number to identify yourself and present this card at check-in. If you don't have a credit card or Miles & More card, you require a photo identification to obtain your etix. Your ticket will be stored electronically in our database and you are issued your boarding pass at check-in. Your ticket receipt with the ticket price including taxes and fees will also be given to you when you book your flight or when you receive your boarding pass. Additionally, you can combine the comfort of etix with the speed and convenience of the Quick Check-in system and get onboard even faster. 'etix' facilities are available at over 60 Austrian and more than 100 Star Alliance destinations. A list of all eligible etix destinations can be found at the Austrian Airlines website.

Have you seen a shift in leisure traffic to Eastern Europe with more countries coming under the Schengen States and what are your strategies to ensure that Austrian is the preferred carrier for Central and Eastern Europe?
Traffic to Central and Eastern Europe has increased tremendously. Such destinations are being promoted aggressively especially for MICE groups. We also offer special FIT/Group fares for our valued customers.

What are the USPs offered for corporate, leisure and student traffic by Austrian?
We have already tied up with major tour operators in our region to promote FIT traffic on a year-round basis. Special group fares are offered for group movements to Austria and also to other destinations to promote leisure traffic. We have deals in place with major corporate clients in the region. We have also introduced special Seamen fares to Europe, USA and Canada with excess baggage facility valid for travel until 30th September 2008.

Austrian is synonymous with Austria. However, as Central and Eastern Europe are emerging destinations, what are the initiatives taken by your airline to create awareness of the emerging destinations with convenient connections for business and leisure travellers. One of our USPs has been that we are very strong in Central and Eastern Europe. We are targeting the MICE segment through our tour operators. Also corporate traffic is on the increase on account of acquisitions, i.e. IT companies opening up software development units in these regions. We are also working closely with the tourism boards of the destinations we fly to.

Austrian has worked closely with ANTO (Austrian National Tourist Office). With several tourism boards or their representations, such as Poland and Spain, planning to penetrate the Indian market, what ways does Austrian plan to encash on these opportunities?
We are already partnering with some tourist boards and are willing to partner with others to jointly promote the destinations and in turn, the airline. For example, we have in the past introduced a special FIT fare to promote tourism to Poland with POLSKA, the Polish Tourism Organization.

With the increasing price of ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel), and airlines like Kingfisher planning to start operations to Europe , what are the key challenges and how do you intend to counter them?
Competition is always welcome as long as the demand/supply ratio is maintained. International travel is expected to grow in the future. There is currently however a slight lull on account of global recessionary trends which has affected us as well. With fuel prices dropping after reaching an all-time high of USD147 per barrel, we expect the market to settle down and pick up in the months to come. Upgrading our product and services to meet the growing demands of the customer would be the key to success.

Austrian was once again ranked as the Best Airline in Europe by business magazine, CAPITAL, in May 2008. What have been the other significant achievements of Austrian and to what do you attribute the success of the airline?
It is the people which make the difference. Austrian is known for its hospitality both in the air and on the ground and has been winning awards in various categories year on year.In addition to Austrian being awarded top honours as the Best Airline to Europe in Service and Catering categories by business magazine, CAPITAL, we have gained numerous other awards in the past two years. Most recently, participants in the globally renowned online passenger survey Skytrax World Airline Awards 2008 have voted us amongst the world's best quality carriers. We received 1st Place and 3rd Place in the “Onboard Catering Business Class Long-Haul” and “Onboard Catering Economy Class Long-Haul” categories respectively. We were also awarded 1st Place in the “Cabin Staff within Europe” category, thus proving that our guests recognize our “we care” approach on a daily basis.

Business Traveller magazine (2008) has awarded Austrian 1st Place in “Food and Drink” and 2nd Place in “Best Short and Medium-Haul Airline in Europe”. In 2007, the same magazine awarded us 1st Place in best overall performance amongst European airlines. Numerous other honours have been bestowed upon Austrian further highlighting our passion for quality and service.

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