Star Alliance carrier Austrian Airlines is restoring long-haul services to the Chinese city of Shanghai next year, after an absence of nine years.
The Lufthansa Group operator will resume the route from Vienna from 4 April – initially flying five-times weekly before going daily on 1 May.
Austrian will use Boeing 777s on the link, it states, giving it a second connection to China after Beijing.
The carrier had previously operated to Shanghai but dropped the service in early 2007, after less than three years, as it cut back its long-haul Airbus fleet.
Austrian subsequently opted to provide connections to Shanghai through a codeshare with then-provisional Star partner Air China.
But the route has become viable again, according to Austrian chief commercial officer Andreas Otto, as a result of a “significantly improved” market environment and higher local demand.
“Shanghai will complement our offering to the most important cities of Asia very well,” he adds.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
