'Once again this year, our summer schedule has been defined by the needs of the Focus East programme. By making a range of frequency increases and adding a new destination in Bulgaria as well as the Estonian capital Tallinn to the flight schedule, we are consistently developing our network throughout Central and Eastern Europe in harmony with the dynamic economic trend in the region,' explained Austrian Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Josef E. Burger, clarifying the focus points of the summer schedule. 'Within our long-range programme, we shall be incorporating Chicago into the schedule as of 29 May 2007, bringing to ten the number of long-range destinations served by the Austrian Airlines Group in America and Asia. In North America these include New York, Washington, Toronto and Chicago from May, and in Asia Tokyo, the cities of Beijing, Bangkok, Delhi, Mumbai and Dubai. On routes to Washington, Tokyo and Bangkok, seating capacity is to be extended with the use of the B777, on which passengers in Business Class will be able to enjoy the new, comfortable lie flat sleeper seats.'

Ten long-range destinations to Asia and North America

The North America schedule is being strengthened in the summer schedule. Austrian will launch another North American destination - Chicago - as of 29 Mai 2007. The new frequency will include up to six flights a week in the summer schedule period. Washington (daily) will now be operated using a larger aircraft, the Boeing 777, providing significantly greater seating capacity. Daily flights to New York and Toronto complete the programme.

In Asia, deployment of the Boeing 777 to Tokyo (6 flights a week) and Bangkok (daily) will also produce an expansion in seating availability. There will be daily services to the Chinese capital Beijing as before, and in India daily to Delhi and five times a week to Mumbai.

Until 29 April 2007 the service to Dubai will be a daily one, returning to six flights a week from 30 April onwards.


More flights to the Middle East

The number of flights to Erbil is to rise by one flight to a total of three flights a week. The number of flights to Tehran is also to increase to up to five weekly flights.

45 destinations in Central and Eastern Europe

In Eastern Europe, availability of Austrian services to Bulgaria is to increase. Burgas will be the third new destination in Bulgaria incorporated into the schedule, with three flights a week. With two extra services, Austrian Airlines now provides up to four flights a day to the capital Sofia, while the schedule to Varna will also increase to daily flights.

The programme of services to Russia is also to expand. The schedule of services to Moscow Domodedovo is to increase to three flights a day compared to the summer schedule 2006. Availability to St. Petersburg is to increase by two extra flights a week, meanwhile, meaning that Austrian now provides daily flights to Russia's second city.

As of 4 June 2007, Austrian Airlines will incorporate the Estonian capital of Tallinn into its new schedule by introducing up to four flights a week as part of a codeshare agreement with partner Estonian Air. This means the Austrian Airlines Group now enjoys complete coverage of the main cities in the Baltic region.

The number of flights to the Ukraine is also being expanded. An extra four flights a week will operate to Donetsk, translating into a new, daily service to the Ukrainian city. The service to L'viv is also to expand to a daily one through an extra flight on Saturdays. There is also an additional flight to Odessa every Wednesday, raising availability together with route partner Ukraine International Airlines to two flights a day.

The number of services to Podgorica will now also increase from five flights a week.

Western Europe
We have now launched one additional service every day, other than Saturday and Sunday, to Turin, bringing the total to two flights a day, seven days a week. Thanks to new cooperation with Italian airline Air One, Austrian has doubled availability to Rome as of 1 April 2007 and increased its frequencies on routes to Naples, Turin and Florence.