Review of Austrian Airlines flight Newark → Vienna in Business

Hi,

On a cloudy afternoon I arrived at Terminal B of Newark Airport. This terminal is rather small and has an old feeling with it.

The check in area of Lufthansa Group was very crowded when I arrived but then emptied soon. Check In however was very unfriendly and the staff on my counter was unprofessional having troubles doing a normal luggage check in with transfer in Vienna…Not the best first impression.

Security also took very long and after about 30 minutes (even with priority lane) I was finally airside. However nothing to miss here - the waiting and shopping area is really underwhelming with a dark atmosphere and almost no shop.

Soon I headed to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge. The Lounge is very small and also was already rather packed when I arrived.

Some views of the basic offering on the rather small buffet:

My selection:

Some views outside on the way to the gate:

My Austrian 777 waiting at the gate - still in the old livery and soon being phased out anyway once the Dreamliner 787s arrive with Austrian early next year.

Boarding started on time with a dedicated clearly marked priority lane.

On board a very friendly cabin crew welcomed me onboard and I took my comfortable window seat.

The seat is basically the same model like on Swiss' older A330 but in a more modern version: Huger and more modern video screens + helpful stowage areas, e.g. for your water bottle or behind the center armrest. All in all I felt comfortable here. However of course it not is up to date with the newest Business Class products on the market and e.g. offers only limited privacy.

Soon a cabin crew member offered welcome drinks (no alcohol on US ground), so I opted for a nice orange juice. Next came nuts which was a nice surprise for me before take off.

Menus were offered next:

Dinner service in restaurant style multiple courses:

Breakfast before landing:

Already at the seat were ok quality headsets and a small amenity kit with basic contents (it works as a shoe bag if you take it home which is an nice idea to reuse it).

We left the gate ahead of schedule and started our taxiing passing some nice aviation action.

Welcome!

After about 10 minutes we powered into nice sunset skies and started our flight of 7 hours 20 minutes to Austria.

Climbing to cruising altitude the sunset quickly continued.

Service started with nice hot towels.

About 30 minutes into the flight trolleys appeared and the table was dressed up including drink offers for aperitif.

A nice amouse bouche was offered from a silver tray.

Soon a nice low level trolley appeared and you could choose your slection of starters nicely presented on the typical Austrian rectangular plates.

Drinks were proactively refilled many times during the service - the cabin crew was extremely friendly, always smiling, enjoying their job and providing an excellent restaurant style atmosphere I almost never had before on an airplane.

Next a nice tomato soup was offered.

Followed by the main course where I had the chicken.

A nicely presented dessert trolley followed with sweets, fruits, cheese and digestifs on offer. I ordered the chocolate mousse with some tasty sweet Austrian dessert wine.

Finishing the meal with an Austrian coffee special including whipped cream:

I slept for ca. 3 hours and woke up when hot towels were offered again.

Table clothes were laid out and a tasty ginger energizer drink was offered first from a tray.

Next the breakfast was offered where I ordered the Eggs Benedict which were fine. As I was not very hungry, I skipped the offering of additional muesli, yoghurts or breads.

We started our descend into Vienna with beautiful sunrise views.

Landing ca. 50 minutes ahead of schedule and disembarking after a very nice flight.

Thanks for reading,
FlyAlex