Article from BTNews 2 JULY 2018
Now it's Level Austria
In a move that surprised the industry by its last-minute timing, British Airways’ parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) said last week it was launching a new low-cost Austrian subsidiary with flights from Vienna starting on 17 July.
IAG said the new company, using the Level brand, will have an Austrian Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and will base four 210-seat all-Economy Airbus A321 aircraft in Vienna from where it will fly to 14 European destinations.
Flights to Gatwick and Palma are being launched on day one, with Barcelona, Malaga, Venice, Olbia, Ibiza, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Milan Malpensa, Dubrovnik, Larnaca, Alicante, Valencia and Bilbao joining over the following four weeks.
IAG said Gatwick would be served by 14 flights a week, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Milan Malpensa would have 13 each and the other destinations between seven and two a week.
Simon Calder, travel editor of The Independent, said IAG had “astonished the aviation market” by launching a new Vienna-based subsidiary with less than three weeks’ notice.
IAG chief executive Willie Walsh said: “We are launching this new short-haul subsidiary to provide Austrian consumers with more flight choices across Europe. Flights will be branded as Level to build upon the huge success of our new long-haul low-cost operation.”
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