Review of Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Innsbruck in Economy

introduction

Hello dear Flight-Report community, and welcome to the last report of this installment covering my first trip since September 2020. This flight was one of my more emotional flights, as it would be my very last flight on an Austrian Airlines Q400. From my very first flight on an OS Q400 in December 2018 (which became my first review here on Flight-Report), I fell in love with the little prop aircraft, and I became a frequent Austrian flyer after said flight. Additionally, this was one of the final Austrian Q400 flights to Innsbruck, as regular Dash service to INN ended on April 30th, just 5 days after this flight (though there was a one-off Q400 flight to Innsbruck on May 31st, which was the very last passenger OS Q400 flight). This was also a special flight for me, as it would likely be my final flight arriving in Innsbruck as my home airport, as I'll be moving out of the wonderful "Capital of the Alps" in July ? With all that out of the way, let's dive in!

trip report

Up to know, the routing of this trip was as follows:

I was originally planing on flying back to Innsbruck, but after realizing the end of Austrian's prop era was near, both my dad and I, as true AvGeeks, decided on paying a bit extra and experiencing the thrill of a Q400 flight to Innsbruck one last time. The fare for this flight was €148 per person, which is actually pretty cheap for a domestic flight in Austria.

transiting at vienna airport

After landing from Istanbul, it was time to clear security again. Annoyingly, there is no dedicated transit security at VIE, instead all passengers, originating and transiting, have to queue up at the same checkpoint. While this is annoying (and can lead to missed connections), at the time of my flight the line was empty. The airport was also still empty, which helped too.

Security barely took a moment, and then we headed to the lounge.

austrian business lounge - schengen

Much to my surprise, the Austrian Lounge had reopened, having being closed for a long time (including the last time I had flown through Vienna).

The lounge dragon was friendly and informed us that no food or drink could be consumed in the lounge. While a bit annoying, I was still thankful for the fact that the Austrian Lounge was open.

Apart from my dad and I, there was only one other passenger in the lounge for the duration of our stay. That meant I could take some photos without being noticed. The lounge itself is pretty nice, though unfortunately it doesn't feature any lounging chairs. The most comfortable seating options are the red chairs with the armrest.

At the end of the lounge, a small section partitioned off for (connecting) First Class passengers and HON Circle members.

And where the drinks buffet once was, nothing but empty high top tables.

In the distance, a conference room and the food offerings to take away.

View of the north tarmac from the lounge.

Corporate shot, with Leadership headlining.

vienna international airport (vie)

Shortly before boarding commenced, I grabbed a sandwich from the food station in the lounge and headed to the gate.

The airport was still eerily empty.

At least there were some people from other flights in the Schengen concourse, the non-Schengen pier was completely empty on my outbound flight!

My flight would be departing from Gate F2.

I could tell that the load would be super light for the short hop across the alps.

boarding + initial impressions

Boarding was called right on time, and I headed down to the bus.

Arriving at our aircraft.

My final OS Q400 was OE-LGJ ('Baden'), a 16.3-year-old Dash 8 delivered to Austrian Arrows in May 2005 and transferred to Austrian mainline in July 2012. I had flown this aircraft once before, on a flight from Frankfurt to Innsbruck in April 2019, exactly 2 years and 5 days earlier.

A very cheery flight attendant welcomed everyone with a "Servus!", a sanitary wipe, and what I am sure was a smile behind her mask.

Passing through the Business Class cabin, which went all the way back to row 6 (even though it was completely empty).

On the last flight, the legroom of this Dash miraculously seemed better than previous times… is it just me? ?

In the seatback pocket, the safety card (which may have accidentally ended up in my backpack ?)…

…and the Melangerie menu.

PSU.

Awesome view of the prop!

austrian 905 - vienna to innsbruck

With a grand total of 14 passengers onboard, the doors were shut quickly, and the pilots fired up the propellers a mere 5 minutes after I took my seat.

Leaving the stand.

Making our way out to Runway 29.

A look at the cabin while taxiing out.

departure from vienna

Rolling takeoff…

Airborne.

Flying the famous left turn out of Runway 29.

Behind the engine, the City of Vienna.

Cabin after departure.

Seat 8F was especially awesome for an AvGeek like me, as the vibrations were off the hook! Check out the takeoff video for that:

mid-flight

Over the clouds.

Shortly after takeoff, as the flight attendant's sprung into action, I pulled out my snack from the lounge.

While there were a couple of choices, I chose a sandwich with ham, cream cheese, pickle, and lettuce. It was really tasty!

Lunch with a view! ?

Cabin during the cruise.

Some bare elements of the seats.

A look at the empty row behind me.

Close up of the antimacassar.

Looking towards the back of the engine.

Alpine scenery below.

Mondsee in the center of the picture.

arrival into innsbruck

Commencing our descent.

While descending, the flight attendants passed out chocolates, which is a new tradition on Austrian flights. They also thanked every passenger for flying with Austrian, which was a very nice touch.

Passing St. Johann in Tirol.

Nearing the entrance of the Inn Valley.

Achensee peeking out from between the mountains.

Schwaz, Austria.

Beginning our scenic final approach.

Enjoying one final OS Q400 gear deployment.

Over the City of Innsbruck.

The Inn River down below.

Short final.

Over the runway.

As usual, a hard touchdown on Innsbruck's Runway 26. We landed at 1:49 PM, 6 minutes early, after being airborne for 56 minutes.

Leaving the runway.

Landing video:

Taxiing to the stand.

Pulling up to Innsbruck's quaint terminal building, mostly untouched since it was inaugurated in 1964.

I bid farewell to the purser and made my way on to the tarmac to, for the very last time, take some photos of the beautiful Dash with a stunning Alpine background.

I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

.

So long, old friend. Thanks for all the memories.

I don't like posting pictures of myself in my reports, but this one is a special exception!

routing of os905

Not much to say about that, other than the fact that we flew at 22,000 feet.

Thanks very much for following along my last Austrian Q400 flight, and possibly my last to Innsbruck as a home airport. Unlike the last time I flew OS905 in September 2020, I have a lot of travel coming up! I've already flown another trip to Bulgaria, and I'm eyeing a trip to the Baltics this month. Next month, however, I have two awesome trips planned, including my long-awaited return to the homeland! In the meantime, keep an eye out for my next report, which will (hopefully) be the first on the internet covering Austrian's new short-haul cabins! Until then, happy flying ✈️