Featured image: Adrian Nowakowski/Airways

Austrian Welcomes First Boeing 787 in Full Colors

DALLAS — Yesterday, June 20, at 15:48UTC, Austria’s (OS) first Boeing 787 landed at Vienna Schwechat Airport (VIE), now wearing the carrier's colors.

The airframe, registered as OE-LPM, is the second unit Austrian received in April 2024 from its former operator, Bamboo Airways (QH). However, until June, the Dreamliner operated commercial flights wearing a titleless scheme across Germany and the Atlantic Ocean.

Before arriving at VIE, where the airport's staff welcomed it with a water salute, the Boeing 787-9 spent up to 14 days of painting and preparation work in the Spanish airfield of Teruell (TEV), widely known as one of the largest aircraft storage and refurbishment centers in Europe.

“Lima Papa Mike” backtracking on runway 36 in Teruel before heading to its home base, VIE. Photo: Fabrizio Spicuglia/Airways

Austrian Airlines' Fleet Ops

Austrian’s Dreamliner operated its first transatlantic service to New York (JFK) five days earlier, on June 15. Before debuting across the ocean, though, the plane performed a series of crew familiarization flights between Vienna and Berlin (BER), Dusseldorf (DUS), and Frankfurt (FRA).

Apart from the two current registrations flying today with OS, five additional Boeing 787-9s will arrive from its partner Lufthansa (LH) in the coming weeks.

Registrations from D-ABPA to D-ABPE will be transferred to OS as soon as the new fleet member is consolidated in the airline’s operations, potentially leaving LH without Dreamliners in the long term.

The Airways photography team exclusively captured the departure of OE-LPM out of Teruel Airport in Spain, wearing the full Austrian colors.

Exploring Airline History Volume I

David H. Stringer, the History Editor for AIRWAYS Magazine, has chronicled the story of the commercial aviation industry with his airline history articles that have appeared in AIRWAYS over two decades. Here, for the first time, is a compilation of those articles.

Subjects A through C are presented in this first of three volumes. Covering topics such as the airlines of Alaska at the time of statehood and Canada's regional airlines of the 1960s, the individual histories of such carriers as Allegheny, American, Braniff, and Continental are also included in Volume One. Get your copy today!