The role of Austrian Airlines within the Lufthansa Group

Abstract

Austrian Airlines is a relatively small but important part of the Lufthansa Group, and is to some extent overshadowed by its much larger German owner, together with its higher profile Swiss International Airlines compatriot and neighbour. Even so, Austrian is not as small as the group's other network carrier member Brussels Airlines. The group's low-cost point-to-point carrier Eurowings is not closely considered in this paper as the primary focus here is on a network carrier analysis, with Austrian positioned as the main case study subject. In this regard, Austrian delivers a hub-and-spoke network out of Vienna International Airport (VIE) which both compliments and strengthens the overall group's scale, scope and density. Austrian contributes a substantial boost to the Lufthansa Group in Central and Eastern Europe, though this has been reduced as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine, including Russian air space closure. Austrian's future prospects are closely aligned with events in Ukraine, with an end to the war likely to see the airline well positioned to resume services quite quickly to Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The study here finds that Austrian Airlines clearly maintains a symbiotic relationship with its parent company, rather than a dependency on the wider group for its survival, though it would likely be a smaller airline if it was not part of the Lufthansa Group. They compliment each other.