Austrian Airlines has announced a significant expansion of its short- and medium-haul programme to cover the week-long school break at the end of October. In a statement released on 24 September 2026, the Lufthansa-owned carrier said it will operate an additional 100 flights between 24 October and 1 November, effectively stretching the summer timetable into the first week of the winter schedule. Sun-seekers will benefit most. Spanish leisure hotspots such as Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Alicante, Bilbao and Fuerteventura receive extra frequencies, while services to the Portuguese island of Madeira continue beyond their usual cut-off date. Italy also gains: Rome, Florence, Naples, Palermo, Olbia and Lamezia Terme all see more seats, as do Split, Dubrovnik and other Adriatic favourites. For city-break travellers, capacity on established business routes—London, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and Hamburg—has been boosted to match demand for long weekend getaways. Long-haul customers are not left out. The airline confirmed that its new Boeing 787-9 “Dreamliner” will enter service on the Vienna–Mauritius route from mid-January, while the winter timetable once again offers two daily rotations to Bangkok and up to seven weekly flights to both the Maldives and Dubai. North-Atlantic services continue unchanged until 10 January, after which Chicago, Boston and New York JFK will each take a brief seasonal pause before resuming in early spring. For corporate mobility managers the message is twofold. First, seat availability around Austria’s popular autumn break will be less constrained than usual, supporting last-minute business and incentive travel. Second, the aircraft up-gauge on Indian Ocean routes provides new premium-class inventory for long-term assignees and remote-working executives seeking warm-weather bases. Tickets for the additional flights and the full winter schedule are already on sale through Austrian Airlines’ website and GDS channels. Travellers are encouraged to reserve early, as many of the leisure destinations operate only once or twice per week outside peak periods.
Source: Austrian Wings
