Review: Austrian Business Class Boeing 787 (VIE-IAD)

For the transatlantic return segment of our royal visit to Versailles, I flew Austrian’s Boeing 787-9 business class on the nine hour flight from Vienna (VIE) to Washington (IAD).

I’ve long been a fan of Austrian, and it’s my favorite Lufthansa Group carrier in terms of business class soft product. What’s exciting is that the airline recently started taking delivery of 787s, representing a new era for the carrier. I was looking forward to seeing the combination of an improved hard product and an exceptional soft product in action.

I’m happy to report that this was a very enjoyable flight. Austrian’s 787 business class hard product is competitive (but nothing remarkable). But when you combine it with Austrian’s delicious catering and friendly service, this has to be one of the most pleasant ways to cross the Atlantic in business class.

How I booked my Austrian business class ticket

I booked my Austrian business class ticket from Vienna to Washington using Air Canada Aeroplan points. Specifically, I booked the following for 70,000 Aeroplan points plus $115.17 in taxes & fees:

2/20 OS93 Vienna to Washington departing 10:35AM arriving 2:35PM

Aeroplan points are easy to come by, as the program is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. On top of that, Aeroplan often sells points at a discount, and also has the Aeroplan® Credit Card (review), which is pretty lucrative.

Austrian business class lounge & boarding

I had enjoyed the morning at the Park Hyatt Vienna, so I didn’t arrive at the airport as early as I usually would. I won’t be reviewing the Austrian lounge setup this time around, but in the past I’ve reviewed the Austrian Senator Lounge and Austrian Business Lounge.

Security and passport control were both quick, and I headed straight to gate G11, where my flight was departing from.

Waiting at the gate, I saw OE-LPL, the Boeing 787-9 that would be flying me to Washington. Even though the plane is new to Austrian, it’s not a new jet. The roughly five-year-old Dreamliner was intended for China’s Hainan Airlines, then flew for Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways, and then it was transfered to Austrian. Fun fact: I flew this exact aircraft on Bamboo Airways a couple of years back.

As you can see, the plane doesn’t yet have the full Austrian livery, but instead has an all-white fuselage, except for the Austrian name written across the front of the plane, and the Austrian logo on the tail.

Anyway, boarding was scheduled for 9:50AM, 45 minutes ahead of departure. That’s exactly when boarding started, with business class passengers and Star Alliance Gold members being invited to board first.

Austrian 787 business class cabin & seats

I boarded the 787 through the second set of doors, where I was greeted by the exceptionally friendly purser, and pointed to my seat. Austrian’s 787s have 26 business class seats, spread across seven rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration. This cabin takes up the entire space between the first and second set of doors.

This product should look familiar to any frequent premium cabin flyer. These planes have Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, which are the most common reverse herringbone seats out there. Austrian just kept the interiors it inherited, with the only changes being some updated finishes.

Those traveling as pairs may prefer picking any of the 12 center seats, so that you can sort of enjoy the flight with your travel companion. However, the seats are still angled quite a bit, and also a distance apart, so they’re not the ideal seats for couples. Meanwhile if you’re traveling alone and end up in one of these seats, there’s a privacy partition that can be raised, so don’t worry.

Solo travelers, and those who love a view out the window, will want to select one of the 14 window seats.

I selected seat 7A, the window seat on the left side in the last row.

As far as seat features go, the counter to the side of the seat has two separate consoles that can be opened. One is quite deep and has the entertainment controller, power outlets (AC and USB-A), and headphone jack, while the other is quite shallow.

There’s additional storage on the aisle-side of the seat, in the armrest that can be raised or lowered (it needs to be lowered for takeoff and landing).

Speaking of storage, there’s another exposed storage area underneath the seat and to the side, by the fuselage.

The tray table folds out from underneath the entertainment monitor, and needs to be flipped over for it to be its full size.

The footwell for reverse herringbone seats is located to the side of the seat in front, so they can be a bit restrictive. I found this footwell to be quite a good size, and managed to sleep comfortably.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that unfortunately these 787s don’t have individual air nozzles, so you’re at the mercy of the crew when it comes to airflow.

All-in-all, this isn’t the world’s most exciting business class hard product, but it’s competitive. I will say, for an airline with a lot of personality (I mean, just look at Austrian’s bright red flight attendant uniforms), the cabin does feel a bit dull in terms of finishes. That’s especially true if looking back to front, while it’s a bit better in the other direction.

Austrian business class amenities

What are amenities like in Austrian’s long haul business class? Waiting at each seat upon boarding were a pillow and blanket. While there are no mattress pads, I found the pillow to be substantial, and the blanket to be cozy without being overly warm.

Amenity kits were also waiting at each seat upon boarding. The amenity kits are on the basic side, and just had eyeshades, socks, a dental kit, earplugs, and lip balm. There are definitely more exciting amenity kits out there.

Next, there were a pair of headphones at each seat. These were decent quality, but nothing special.

Lastly, a bottle of water was placed at each seat prior to boarding.

During boarding, the crew came around with pre-departure drinks, including the choice of sparkling wine, orange juice, or water. I asked for both a sparkling wine and water, and that was accompanied by a ramekin with a snack (which seemed to be some sort of honey mustard flavored pretzel pieces).

Toward the end of the boarding process, the inflight chef came around to distribute menus, and then he returned a short while later to take meal orders.

Austrian 787 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi

Arguably one of the most exciting developments about Austrian’s new 787s is that the airline finally has Wi-Fi on long haul flights. That wasn’t historically the case, and was one of the biggest downsides to flying with the airline, in my opinion.

Wi-Fi matched the pricing on other Lufthansa Group carriers. The airline offers a free messaging pass, and then you can buy a two hour internet package for €15, or a full flight internet package for €25. I found the speeds to be excellent, and appreciated the ability to stay connected on a daytime flight.

As far as seat back entertainment goes, each business class seat has a 17.5″ seat back monitor that’s touchscreen, with audio and video on demand.

Due to the way that the selection was organized, it was hard to figure out exactly how many movies and TV shows there were. I’d say the selection was solid, to the point that most people shouldn’t get bored on a long haul flight, though it wasn’t competitive to something like Emirates ICE, for example.

Of course there was also the map feature, which is my favorite aspect of any inflight entertainment system.

Austrian 787 departure from Vienna

The boarding process was efficient, thanks in large part to this flight being quite empty. 11 of the 26 business class seats were empty, and I’d estimate that there were maybe 100 passengers on the entire plane.

At 10:25AM, the main cabin door closed. Around the same time, the captain was on the PA to announce our flight time of nine hours, and our imminent departure. At this point the safety video was screened, which was super cute.

At 10:35AM we began our pushback, and then five minutes after that we began our taxi.

We had a very short taxi to runway 16, where we’d be departing from, and we rocketed off at 10:45AM. It was a gorgeous day outside (well, at least from inside the plane — it was below freezing outside).

The seatbelt sign was turned off around 10 minutes after takeoff.

Austrian business class lunch service

Shortly after takeoff, lunch was served, as the primary meal on this flight. Boy was I in for a treat. You can find the Austrian business class menu below.

You can find the Austrian business class drink list below. I really respect how Austrian leans so heavily into promoting products from its home country. As you can see, nearly all the wines are from Austria.

Around 15 minutes after takeoff, service began with warm towels being distributed.

Carts were rolled down the aisles with drinks, and I ordered a glass of the gruener veltliner (white wine), plus a sparkling water. Around the same time, the inflight chef came around with canapés, which were offered almost as if you’re at a cocktail party, as they were just handed out from a tray, onto napkins.

After that, tables were set for the meal service, including a variety of bread options from a basket.

There were two options for the starter, and I selected the ricotta with grilled vegetables, which I enjoyed immensely.

Next up was a soup course, which consisted of a sweet potato coconut soup with coconut shavings.

Of the three main course options, I chose the baked cod and shrimp with pea puree and crayfish sauce. I’ve gotta say, this is easily one of the best fish dishes I’ve had on a plane in a long time. I thought the presentation was restaurant quality, and the taste was pretty great as well.

To finish off the meal, I was offered dessert, fruit, and/or cheese. I selected the dessert, which was a white chocolate mousse, as well as the cheese, which included camembert, mountain cheese, and bavaria blu, with grapes and walnuts.

Last but certainly not least, it was time for the biggest treat of any Austrian long haul flight, which is the carrier’s selection of Austrian coffee specialties. I ordered the eiskaffee, consisting of a double espresso with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

I thought this meal was simply incredible, among the best I’ve had in business class in a long time. The service was friendly, the food was delicious, and the presentation was great. I also appreciated all the little details, like them offering cracked pepper with various courses.

Austrian is one of the few airlines to have inflight chefs. In practice, that doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot, since it’s not like they’re actually cooking onboard. However, it definitely contributes to good plating, which makes a difference.

Austrian has definitely made some services changes over the years. For example, the coffee specialty menu isn’t as extensive as it used to be, and appetizers are no longer plated in front of you, off a trolley. Despite these changes, the quality is still excellent, so I can hardly criticize the airline too much on that.

Austrian 787 business class lavatory

After the meal, I decided to check out Austrian’s 787 business class lavatory situation. There’s one lavatory at the front of the cabin, by the flight deck, while there are two lavatories behind the cabin, by the second set of doors.

The lavatory at the front of the cabin is basically a totally standard Dreamliner lavatory.

The two lavatories behind the cabin are the ones you’ll want to visit, as they’re much more spacious, and each have a window.

The lavatories didn’t have anything exciting in the way of amenities, but rather just had Austrian branded hand lotion.

Austrian 787 business class bed

Once back at my seat, I decided to recline my seat and take a little nap. I found the bed to be quite comfortable.

I fell asleep with around 6hr45min remaining to Washington, as we were starting our transatlantic crossing…

…and I woke up with around 2hr45min remaining to Washington, after making landfall over northern Canada.

There were some beautiful views during this part of the flight.

Austrian business class pre-landing snack

Upon waking up, I first ordered an americano, which was served in a Julius Meinl branded mug, and was pretty great for airplane coffee.

A little under two hours before arrival, the pre-landing snack was served, and you can find the menu below.

Service began with an apple and red beet energizer drink, which had quite a kick to it.

Of the two snack options, I selected the mozzarella and tomato panini with potato chips, which came with a profiterole dessert. Admittedly this isn’t the highest end meal service in the world, but the execution was among the best I’ve seen for such a snack. This actually tasted like a panini you’d be happy to be served on the ground, unlike so many other airline sandwiches.

Once meal trays were cleared, the crew came around with chocolates.

Austrian business class service

Almost as good as the food onboard this flight was the service. The purser, Thomas, really set the tone for service on this flight. He was so personable, and went above and beyond to engage with each passenger. Rarely do you see such a “hands on” purser, but this guy was just incredible, and clearly invested in making sure each passenger had a great flight.

The rest of the crew followed his lead and was professional as well, from the business class flight attendants, to the inflight chef. I’ve generally found Austrian to have above average service, but this flight had the best crew I’ve ever had on the airline.

The American lady seated in front of me was supposed to fly United Polaris business class, but somehow got rebooked on Austrian (she was obviously connecting from somewhere else, since United doesn’t fly to Vienna). Forget me raving about the service on this flight, she couldn’t stop telling the crew how much she enjoyed the flight, saying “I don’t want to go back to United now.” It’s always fun to observe others being pleasantly surprised by an inflight experience.

Austrian 787 arrival in Washington

At around 1:05PM local time, the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d be landing in around 45 minutes. He warned of some turbulence on approach, and of strong winds at Washington Dulles, which were gusting up to 30 knots.

About 10 minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned on, and we started our gradual descent for Washington. While the descent was initially quite smooth, it eventually became rather bumpy.

We ended up touching down on runway 1R at exactly 1:50PM. Despite the rough approach, the touchdown couldn’t have been smoother.

We then pulled onto a taxiway and stopped. At 1:55PM, the captain announced that our gate was occupied, but that it shouldn’t be too much longer.

It only ended up taking around 15 minutes, and at 2:10PM, we pulled into our gate.

Unfortunately there was a bit more drama there, as it took 15 minutes until they managed to open the door. For whatever reason, the ground agents seemed to be struggling with the jet bridge. So we finally deplaned at 2:25PM, still a bit ahead of schedule.

From there, I took the famous people mover over to immigration, and that afforded a great view of the Dreamliner I had just flown.

After passing through immigration and security, it was time for the last segment of my journey, back home to Miami, in United’s 737 MAX first class.

Bottom line

Austrian’s 787 business class is a delightful experience. I’ve always been a fan of Austrian, but the new 787s really take the experience to the next level, with new seats, Wi-Fi, and a more modern cabin.

What really stands out about the Austrian experience is the phenomenal food and drink selection, which is among the best that you’ll find on any airline in business class.

I understand Vienna isn’t the most premium airline market out there, but I do wish that Lufthansa Group would invest a bit more in growing Austrian, as I’d pick that carrier over any other Lufthansa Group airline in business class.

What do you make of Austrian’s 787 business class experience?