Boeing 787s Now Flying 70-Minute Route

Austrian Airlines is making a unique change to its Boeing 787 operations, introducing a short-haul flight that will be in service throughout October 2026.

The airline, flagged by the reputable public publication aeroroutes.com, will put its Boeing 787 Dreamliner into service on three Wednesdays in October between Vienna and Berlin.

The schedule will see the aircraft deployed on 7 October, 14 October, and 21 October, with the usual narrowbody equipment swapped for the larger and much more luxurious 787-9 Dreamliner, representing quite the shift.

A Boeing 787 Flying Just 70 Minutes

On these dates, the airline’s flight OS227, scheduled to depart from Vienna at 1130 and arrive in Berlin at 1240, and the return sector OS228, departing Berlin at 1335 and arriving back in Vienna at 1510, will be operated by the Dreamliner.

Normally, for what is considered a high-demand shuttle service, carriers choose frequency over larger-capacity planes, which are served by narrowbody jets, but that won’t be the case during this period.

The change, over such a short 70-minute flight, will give passengers, during the very limited window, a taste of Austrian’s long-haul product, but at a fraction of the cost and duration.

For a one-hour flight compared to long-haul flying, the 787 switch will mean a wider cabin, more long-haul-style business-class seats, and twin aisles, which dramatically reduce the squeeze but add to boarding times for these short flights.

Where Are The Austrian Airlines Boeing 787s?

Typically, Austrian Airlines Boeing 787s are not seen on short-haul flights such as Vienna to Berlin. These aircraft have been purchased and are now being delivered as part of plans to deploy them on long-haul missions.

The Dreamlines are part of a drive to renew and grow the business to ensure the fleet mix is better suited to the 21st century, amid the desperate need to replace ageing widebody jets and improve connectivity from Vienna to many destinations globally.

As a result, choosing the 787 was easy; a presence across the Lufthansa Group, already addressing some of the extensive backlog here, gives the airline a lower-fuel-burn alternative compared to other jets and a model suited to long-range nonstop flights from Europe with maximum flexibility.

The newer planes can be seen at destinations such as New York, where flights are offered daily to Newark Liberty and six times a week to New York JFK. The aircraft is also flying to Chicago and Washington, D.C., showing the importance of the widebody towards the United States.

While deploying a luxurious widebody on short-haul flights isn’t impossible, it’s ultimately not something seen every day, and these 787s at Austrian Airlines are intended better to serve the airline’s transatlantic and international network.

Ultimately, they also allow for the retirement of older models that have been driving costs upward. If Austrian Airlines wants to improve its margins in an era when costs continue to spiral, having an efficient fleet is one of the most important necessities.