Austrian Airlines A320neo Business Class Review

I have already reviewed a pair of Lufthansa Group Airlines; European/Short-haul Business Class Lufthansa A320 & A321 Business Class Review & SWISS A320 & A321 Business Class Review (actually, Alitalia (ITA Airways) European Business Class Review makes it 3) and for the most part Austrian is similar (as are most European Airlines) to these airlines Business Class. However, I keep hearing positive things about Austrian's catering and have had good experiences with them in the past (both within Europe as well as their long-haul Austrian Airlines B767 Business Class Review VIE to Washington IAD) so I was looking for a reason to fly them and see just how big the difference was between OS and Lufthansa/SWISS (especially after LH started their "Tasting HEIMAT" meal service in Business). I had a couple of free days while visiting London (March 2025) and decided I would visit somewhere I could fly Austrian. They fly to most large cities in Europe, but without the frequency of LH or LX so I decided to visit Austria (Innsbruck) where the flight times were convenient and the fares reasonable. I was very happy I did as their catering is the best I have experienced in Europe (and that includes Turkish). But I will go into more detail about that shortly.

The Business Class Experience on Austrian's A32o & A321's will be about the same as the A320neo other than the neo's are significantly newer aircraft. So, this review is relevant for most of OS's mid and short-haul flights. The neo's are all under three years old while their A320 & A321's are anywhere from 13 to 27 years old. The biggest difference on board are the overheads. The neo has the larger overheads where you can fit your carry-on on its side (thus allowing for more bags to fit per overhead). Like most European Airline's Business Class, the seats are the same as Economy Class in a 3x3 configuration with the middle seat left free. This does provide for more space and comfort, but it is still an Economy Class seat. The Business Class cabin can expand or contract based on loads. Both flights I was on had six rows dedicated to Business Class. I read where the first 10 rows have an inch more leg room, but that is still not that generous. According to SWISS there is a minimum or 29" of pitch in Business, but the A320neo has a minimum of 30". I sat in the bulkhead on the return flight to LHR from VIE and the leg room was ok. More space than non-bulkhead seats, but you can't stretch your legs as far. I did notice that Seats 1A&C had a little more leg room than 1D&F. I sat in 3F to VIE and I guessed the seat pitch to be a little more than 31 inches. I also had the whole row to myself which always gives you a greater sense of space. The downside of the bulkhead seats is the armrest doesn't raise as the tray-table is stored there. This definitely reduces the amount of seat width (all seats have a width of just under 18"). If thin, it is not an issue, but if you are a little portly like me or above, it is not as comfortable as non-bulkhead seats. That said, the window seat outer armrest does raise, so 1A & F have slightly more width than 1C or D.

The cabin is pleasant looking with gray leather seats and red head covers (actual name is antimacassar) and seat belts. These seats do not have adjustable headrests. There is a USB plug (2 per row) on the bottom of the seat in front of you (bulkhead is located on the front of the armrest). Both planes just had USB plugs. One aircraft had both USB-A & USB-C sockets while the other only had a USB-A socket (only worked while in flight). There are no electrical plugs. The seatback pockets in the bulkhead are decent size and hold about as much as the other rows seatback pockets. The seatback, nor tray-table had device holders. The tray-tables are small, but you can open the middle seats table for extra room. Overhead light and vent are standard. Disappointingly there was no Wi-Fi, nor any sort of In-flight Entertainment (IFE) on my two flights. Austrian does have FlyNet on select A320's. I am not sure how many, but enough that they promote this on their website. Miles & More members get free messaging and Internet access is €6 for less than 90 minutes and €8 over.

The Lufthansa Business Class/Senators Lounge at LHR is great as is the new Terminal 2 at Heathrow. The Schengen Lounge at VIE is a little cramped, but had nice food offerings, while the non-Schengen Lounge (G Gates) was spacious, but a bit underwhelming, however, I only had a few minutes to visit. VIE is not an overly large airport, however the connecting process is slightly confusing. As long as you follow the signs, you'll be ok, but you go through a series of blank narrow hallways to get to the Schengen or non-Schengen areas. Austrian has flights with as little as 30-minute connections. I would not suggest this (I wouldn't suggest this at most airports) as the time it takes to walk and potentially go through security again (and passport) can always take time. In addition, many flights at VIE arrive at bus gates (both my arrivals did) which can add a few minutes to the connecting process. In fact, I was initially going to Bucharest but decided against due to such a short connection in VIE. Both my connections were over an hour.

Boarding for both flights was orderly and Business Class passengers boarded just after those in need of extra assistance. I received a warm greeting on the two flights. Upon boarding the plane there is nothing waiting for you at your seat. No pillow, blanket, water, etc. In addition, much like other European Airlines, a pre-departure beverage was not offered. On my return flight from VIE the flight attendant did come round with a basket of pre-packaged towelettes before departure. On the flight to VIE a towelette packet was given with your beverage before the meal. Hot towels were not given on either flight.

Just like the aircrafts, the meal service should be identical whether on the A320neo or A320/A321. It may differ on their E195's, but they do have ovens, so it shouldn't. I did fly on the E195 between VIE & INN and was served a boxed sandwich on both flights, but those flights were under an hour. Despite that, according to Austrian's website they recently started serving small Hand-baked Pastries in Business on flights under 50 minutes (in a box you can take with you if you want to eat later), On flights between 50 & 80 minutes a full cold meal is served (with dessert), and on flights over 80 minutes you receive a full hot meal. This is scheduled flight time, so the hot meal is served to more cities within Europe (CDG, FCO, OTP, etc.) than you'd think. One of the reasons I was interested in flying Austrian was because they do serve hot meals, whereas Lufthansa, Air France and to a lessor extend SWISS only serve hot meals on the longest flights within Europe (just found out today that Condor serves hot meals within Europe).

The flight time between LHR & VIE is around two hours so a hot meal was served in both directions. The meal service started with a beverage of your choice followed by the meal. Menus are not handed out before, nor does the flight attendant ask or even mention what they are serving and there was no need as there was only one meal choice. As someone who is a little picky this would normally annoy me greatly, but luckily, I happen to love both dishes. To VIE we were served Chicken Schnitzel with Potatoes and a slice of Sachertorte. A very Austrian dish that was extremely enjoyable. To LHR we received Cheese Ravioli with a cut of Beef and Panna Cotta for Dessert. In both cases warm bread was served with your meal. If they had served a dish I did not care for, I probably would not have been so enthusiastic, but both meals were great. Austrian uses DO&CO for their catering as does several other airlines I have flown, but these dishes were better than meals I have had on British Airways or Turkish Air. Again, it may be because I love Schnitzel, Pasta and Beef. After the meal Tea & Coffee was offered. I only ordered Tea, but I don't think their Coffee choices are extensive as on their long-haul routes where they have a Coffee Menu with several choices. Prior to landing the flight attendant handed out a wrapped Lindt Chocolate Truffle. Even in Economy, Austrian has a very extensive buy-on-board menu called "Austrian Melangerie" that has both cold and hot choices. I have seen some of these dishes and they look very appetizing. While you can pre-order off the "Austrian Melangerie" Menu and pre-select long-haul Business Class meals there is no such option on medium-haul flights (I guess no need to pre-order when only one choice).

All announcements were in English and German. There were two flight attendants who serviced the Business Class cabin (one split their duties), and all were very pleasant. There is one standard Lav in front of the plane for Business Class passengers (I do not believe there is a curtain between cabins). Nothing out of the ordinary other than they did have packaged towelettes along with the usual paper towels.

All the flights were on time, and I didn't need to wait long for baggage retrieval. I would say my enthusiasm for Austrian was being fortunate in the meals being served. Most people are not as excited with airline meals as I am, so if you eliminate the catering Austrian is very similar to most other European Airlines. But for me, even with the lack of Wi-Fi their food is among my favorites and will keep me looking forward to my next flight on Austrian Airlines.