Total Score: 8.5 / 20
Service 2.5 / 5
Food 4 / 5
Seat 1 / 5
Amenities and IFE 1 / 5
Flight Number OS 858
Departure From Tel Aviv at 4:20 PM
Seat 1A
Although European business class is often just an economy seat at the front of the plane with a blocked middle seat, I had slightly higher expectations for Austrian given how other rave about their business class catering. While the seat was nothing to get excited about, the food on this flight was excellent!
Seat and Cabin
After a disorganized boarding, I was one of the first to board the plane that would take me to Vienna.
The business class cabin on this flight consisted of the first two rows of seats with a total of six passengers. I was seated in the left bulkhead (seat 1A), luckily with no one sitting next to me.
The seats were no different from the economy class cabin and legroom wasn’t any better either. As I was sitting alone, I was able to have my meal on the middle seat table which was nice. Overall, a pretty standard intra European business class seat.
Food and Service
Just minutes after I was seated, one of the flight attendants brought me a menu as well as a warm towel. The (late) lunch menu read as follows:
After takeoff, I was offered a drink and some nuts.
Minutes later I was brought my meal on Austrian’s unique triangular plates. The salmon starter was delicious, I could have had five plates! For my main dish, I ordered the minced veal patties with mashed potato which was good as well, though the presentation could have been nicer.
For dessert, I had a chocolate cake and ordered a coffee from Austrian’s impressive coffee menu.
After the meal, the crew came around once more in case anyone wanted more food or drink, though I was full!
I was impressed by the quality of the meal on this flight compared to similar length flights I’ve taken.
Bottom Line
As far as intra European business class goes, Austrian ranks slightly above average against its competitors. While you are still sitting in an economy seat and there’s no in flight entertainment, the food and service are top notch which I appreciated. When traveling business class within Europe, I try to seek out airlines which have a “true business class cabin,” though I wouldn’t mind flying Austrian’s A320 aircraft again on a short flight.
