Austrian Airlines Delays 767 Retirement

Austrian Airlines will delay the retirement of the Boeing 767 as part of ongoing fleet renewal efforts.

Reported by Aerotelegraph and confirmed by a spokesperson at the airline, the phase-out of the 767 fleet is expected to be completed in course 2027, representing a delay.

Austrian Airlines had previously planned to retire its 767 fleet sooner rather than later; the last flight was scheduled for the end of 2025, as reported at the beginning of this year.

Now, the Boeing 767 will stick around for a little longer, this a workhrose which has been part of the airlines fleet for some time but as part of renewal efforts the airline part of Lufthansa Group has looked towards newer planes.

That transition towards newer aircraft is being seen across the Lufthansa Group, with the hopeful retirement of aircraft such as this, which would dramatically reduce the fleet types within the Group, leading to better efficiency, flexibility, and harmony across all airlines.

Austrian Airlines Decision Long Awaited?

The decision to retain the Boeing 767 for longer than expected also follows the reporting in January 2025, which suggested the airline was already reconsidering previously outlined retirement plans.

When speaking with ch-aviation, the airline said that it was closely monitoring the delivery of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. This aircraft is critical to allowing the 767 to be retired.

However, due to the challenges in output rates at Boeing, which have also affected the backlog of the 787 Dreamliner, Austrian Airlines, like mainline Lufthansa, has struggled to take on new jets and receive concrete timeframes for delivery.

Austrian Airlines, therefore, considers the 767 to be the perfect short-term solution to mitigate the 787 delays. Given the relatively modest fleet size at the business, it cannot simply retire the 767 and wait for Dreamliners, as other companies have risked doing.