Austrian Airlines increases eastern European reach

Austrian Airlines has announced it is increasing its connections to a number of high-profile eastern European destinations.

Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine and Serbia will all see increased numbers of flights from the Austrian national carrier, while the airline's policy of lowering its number of winter flights to Montenegro has now been scrapped.

The Serbian capital Belgrade is to be serviced by a four-times daily service from Vienna, running in conjunction with codeshare partner JAT Airways, while Bucharest will see up to five daily flights alongside partner TAROM.

Europe's Cultural Capital for 2007, the Romanian city of Sibiu, will now operate on a daily basis - meaning a maximum of up to ten flights a week in conjunction with TAROM - while the Ukrainian city of Kiev will see up to four flights a day including Ukraine International Airlines codeshares.

Austrian Airlines' chief executive officer Alfred Otsch said that the route expansion would open up travel opportunities to the east.

"We currently offer passengers 45 destinations and almost 600 flights a week to central and eastern Europe," he said, adding that both tourists and business travellers would benefit from the more frequent connections.

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