Austrian Airlines

Details

Together with Lufthansa in neighbouring Germany and SAS in Denmark, Austrian Airlines are part of the Star Alliance network. If you do not mind the additional transfers, Austrian Airlines can sometimes have good value fares for flights to Asia and Australia - although these are only usually available from London. Manchester is the only other UK city outside London served by Austrian Airlines.
In recent years, as with many of the European airlines, Austrian Airlines has consolidated its route network. Although the major no-frills airlines have not yet set up shop in Vienna, both easyJet and Ryanair fly to nearby Bratislava in Slovakia, which they promote as an alternative arrival point for Vienna. The Austrian Airlines group includes Lauda Air, which was set up by Grand Prix legend Niki Lauda. Following a series of boardroom disputes, Lauda left the Austrian Airlines group to form no-frills airline Niki. Despite Vienna Airport continuing to operate a high charging regime, Niki has established a major presence in the Austrian capital, placing further pressure on the margins of their long-established rival.