By increasing its service frequency to one flight per day, Lauda Air, part of the Austrian Airlines Group, is taking account of the continually rising demand for flights to Australia. Since 27 May 2002, the company is travelling ‘down under’ on a daily basis. Sydney will be served five times a week, while flights will depart for Melbourne twice a week. The aircraft used to serve this Lauda Air ‘fast route’ will continue to be the 344-seat Boeing 777. The Lauda Air route has been the only direct connection between Austria and Australia for almost 14 years.

Sydney was the first long range Lauda Air destination to feature as a scheduled service. The concession for the route was granted in 1988. At the time, a Boeing 767-300 ER aircraft was used, and the route included a stopover in Bangkok.

Due to the remarkable increase in demand, the Austrian Airlines Group will now operate its service to Australia seven days a week. The Vienna-Kuala Lumpur-Sydney route will operate on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, while the Vienna-Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne will depart every Wednesday and Friday.

The Austrian Airlines Group continues to be the exclusive direct service between Austria and Australia, as well as the fastest connection to Sydney and Melbourne from Germany. Vienna International Airport also provides ideal connections to the Australian services from a wide range of European departure points.

The aircraft used on this route will be the Boeing 777, the ‘Queen of the Lauda Air Fleet’. The Boeing 777 is the largest twin-engined wide-body aircraft in the world. It has 344 seats, 42 of which are located in Amadeus Class, which has been awarded a range of prizes for its services in recent years. Thanks to the presence of a DO&CO inflight chef on the flight to Kuala Lumpur, passengers in Amadeus Class will also benefit from a true gastronomic experience en route.

Every seat from Amadeus through to Economy Class is equipped with a telephone and an interactive video system. This is guaranteed to make the time simply fly by, with its computer games and competitions, SMS and e-mail functions and online shopping, as well as a huge selection of movies and the latest news channels.
The flight schedule from 27 May 2002:

Flight day Dep. place/time Arvl. place/time Flight no.

Mon,Tue,Thu,Sat,Sun from Vienna 10.45 to Sydney 15.15+1 OS3001
Wed, Fri, Sun, Mon, Tue from Sydney 16.55 to Vienna 06.05+1 OS3002

Wed, Fri from Vienna 10.45 to Melbourne 15.00+1 OS3005
Thu, Sat from Melbourne 17.10 to Wien 06.05+1 OS3006

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