#78 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
353 reviews
It was time for another trip to what is my second most-visited airport - Vienna! This time a wintery trip to see friends, having done a summer trip to see them in 2022. I normally end up picking the cheaper out of British Airways and Austrian on these flights - last time I flew with BA and this time I was on Austrian.
As usual for my Terminal 2 visits, I got dropped off at the long-stay car park. With the ride to the terminal only taking 10 minutes, it is well worth the £5 saving compared to being dropped off at the terminal. On the way you get to see lots of planes and occasionally something slightly more relevant to work… such as this BT uplink truck!
I was checked-in and through security very quickly, and it was not long before I was settling down in one of the few available seats in the Lufthansa Business Class lounge. I had access thanks to my ticket in Austrian's business class.
The lounge is located in the main terminal building and is fairly spacious, but at my time of arrival (12:40 approximately) space was getting limited and my view was mostly of these two television screens, with rolling news coverage of the death of a well-known British politician. I had some lunch here, mostly consisting of chicken and bits of salad with some cookies for dessert.
The seat I had picked is the one closest to the entrance to the Senator Lounge and I was slightly perplexed at various members of the lounge staff trying to fix the scanner which opens the doors. Eventually they gave up and propped open the emergency side door! Whilst it was tempting, I did not partake in a quick dash into the Senator Lounge which some of those around me did!
Soon it was time to head to the gate, but not before taking a look across the concourse. Terminal 2 is really a lovely terminal from an architecture perspective, with lots of natural light even at this time of year.
Before long it was time to head to the gate, but not before trying to get a decent view of the plane. This was the best I got - OE-LZN parked up at A16 (I believe). Note the "Less noise. Less CO₂. #makechangefly" sticker below the reg - an interesting message.
Boarding was a little chaotic, and I stood back from the scrum before being one of the last passengers in the first group to board. This meant I walked down a completely empty jetway. This is the view looking back at the main terminal just before turning the corner to the gate…
I had chosen seat 1A at online check-in, mostly for the double windows which I was hoping would frame some good departure views. It also has the benefit of being in the one row with superior legroom. Suits me and my long legs!
Whilst waiting for the rest of the passengers to board what would be a full flight to Vienna, a Lufthansa A320neo pulled up at the adjacent gate which provided some interest out of the window.
It was not long until the jet-bridge was pulling away and we were pushing back, about 6 minutes late.
Quite a long taxi down to Runway 09R, and it looked like we would be joining a queue of heavies waiting to take-off. However, luck was on our side and we turned onto 09R at N7. This is roughly in line with Terminal 5C so a fair way down the runway.
I suspect this was a full-power takeoff - it certainly felt like it - and it was not long before we were airborne and passing just to the south of (BA-sponsored) Twickenham Stadium.
The sunset tonight was certainly nice to look at from the air, but that meant that almost all of the flight would be in darkness.
My final photo of the flight was this illuminated wingtip as we turned to the south-east and started making progress towards Vienna.
A full in-flight service commenced, which was hard to photograph in the dark and I have chosen to spare you from my blurry phone photography. I can't even work out what I had received, but I think it was salmon…
The crew were friendly, helpful, and kept the drinks (in my case, Sprite) flowing throughout the flight.
This A320neo did not have WiFi, meaning that I was blissfully uncontactable for a short period of time. Unfortunately I had just been sent some project documentation which I needed to rewrite, which I ended up completing that evening at the hotel instead.
An on-time arrival at Vienna and being in the front row meant there was only a short queue at the immigration desk. By the time I had used the bathroom my bag was waiting on the carousel and I was waiting on the platform for a REX 7 to Wien Mitte station by 19:00.
Somewhat confusingly my Google Maps was insistent on using Vienne-Midi (the French name!) for this entire journey, and in fact my entire trip. Why? Who knows.
A great start to a weekend away seeing friends. The usual Austrian hospitality was excellent as always, and the airports at both ends were efficient. The lack of WiFi on this aircraft was a bit annoying, but not a deal-breaker. I normally end up picking the cheaper out of British Airways and Austrian on these flights, but I think I may be choosing Austrian more in future.
Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 5 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne London (LHR) → Vienna (VIE).
La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est British Airways avec 7.3/10.
La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 15 minutes.
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4 Comments
Haha yeah I noticed that recently when I was looking on their site for something--which is why this was all fresh in my mind--and they're definitely stretching the truth because as far as I know WiFi is only on the CEOs. IF one is nerdy enough, as I am, one can see in photos of their NEOs that there are no WiFi radomes on any of the frames (there are only 5) unlike the CEOs...so yeah, the "select flights" aren't NEOs and your reviews confirm it. I'm sure they'll install it sooner or later.
As far as I know it is planned to retrofit our entire Airbus fleet with internet service. Either via satellite or an antenna on the bottom transmitting to ground stations with VHF. Why not from factory? Because LH ordered it like that (also the cargo bay comes without a container loading system and had to be retrofitted in Vienna). Discover Airlines operates A320s without internet connection, so it's not that common.
I am going to miss the days of digital detox for a couple of hours!
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