Austrian Airlines stops Dubai-Vienna route from September

European carrier Austrian Airlines has stopped its Dubai route, effective September 13, 2015.

The airline will no longer offer a direct connection between the emirate and capital Vienna, citing overcapacity on the route and fierce price competition.

The carrier, in turn, will be pooling in its resources as it readies to launch three new destinations – Miami, Mauritius and Sri Lanka from October 2015.

Competitive skies

Dubai-based passengers headed to Vienna for the holidays can still find a direct connection aboard Emirates, which flies twice daily between the two cities on a Boeing 777-300ER.

Passengers can also choose to fly to Bratislava via flydubai and catch the bus connection to Vienna that is included in the airfare.

Similarly, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways also offers one direct flight from the capital to Vienna, which it codeshares with FlyNiki.

Meanwhile, passengers of the Lufthansa Group, of which Austrian Airlines is a part, will be able to reach Dubai in the future by flying via Frankfurt, Zurich or Munich.

In a statement, Austrian Airlines said the over-capacity, built up in recent years, resulted in fierce price competition as up to 800 seats per day were on offer.

‘This ultimately made the Vienna-Dubai route unsustainable for Austrian Airlines’, it added.

Austrian Airlines CCO Andreas Otto further stated: “Unfortunately, the Vienna-Dubai route has become unsustainable for us.

“The capacities which will become available will be deployed for attractive, new destinations, such as Miami, Mauritius and Colombo in Sri Lanka starting in October.”

The carrier has been offering flight services to Dubai since 1996.

The last Austrian Airlines flight will take place on September 13, 2015, from Vienna to Dubai, and from Dubai to Vienna on September 14, 2015.

Airfares aboard an Emirates return Dubai-Vienna flight in the third week of September average Dh1,570.

(Image via Shutterstock)

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