Austrian Airlines Extends Temporary Cessation of Flight Operations until May 3

The worldwide entry bans imposed as a consequence of the coronavirus are expected to continue or will even be extended. For this reason, Austrian Airlines will also prolong the cessation of its regular scheduled flight operations by another two weeks, from April 19, 2020 to May 3, 2020. This decision was made today by the Management Board. Moreover, the launch of flight service to Boston, USA, originally planned for June, will be delayed once again due to American travel restrictions. 

“It goes without saying that we will continue to carry out our repatriation and freight flights for medical supplies”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Andreas Otto. In the past weeks more than 6,000 stranded Austrians were brought home on behalf of the Austrian Federal Government. This has been complemented by the 180 tons of protective clothing transported to Vienna from China and Malaysia. 

About an hour ago a Boeing 767 aircraft took off from Vienna Airport to Shanghai in order to pick up 13 tons of medical protection clothing. In addition, a long-haul Boeing 777 aircraft will depart tomorrow for Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, under contract from the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, to bring home stranded Austrians. 

“The precise time when regular flight operations are resumed remains to be seen and depends more on the underlying conditions than on us”, CCO Andreas Otto states. “We continue to stand ready for a new and slow relaunch”. 

Rebooking possibilities and waiver policy for passengers 
In this regard, Austrian Airlines is offering all passengers an expanded waiver policy. Tickets with a departure date up until April 30, 2021, which were booked or will be booked up until April 19, 2020 can be held in abeyance. 

Passengers will have the opportunity to rebook their flights on an alternative travel date (start of the new trip up to April 30, 2021) and, as the case may be, to another destination. 

Passengers whose rebooked flight takes place before December 31, 2020 will also receive an additional EUR 50 ticket value. Passengers can take advantage of the waiver policy to hold their tickets in abeyance or rebook their flights by either calling the Austrian Airlines Service Center or using the designated contact form. Passengers who have booked their flights via travel agencies are requested to contact them. 

Relieve the burden on the hotline 
Austrian Airlines kindly asks passengers whose planned flights were not scheduled during the next seven days to refrain from contacting the service hotline in the days ahead. In this way, they will give the service employees the possibility to first deal with passengers who would normally be departing in the near future.