So here we go! The first leg of this journey started with a quick flight on an Austrian Embraer 195. I was excited to try out this airline, as their DO&CO catering is supposed to be amazing. Also, as part of Lufthansa Group, I expected their service to be great as well. We built in a long layover in Vienna, where we could go out and explore the city a bit before starting our long-haul flight to Bangkok.

 

Naples to Vienna

Austrian flight 526
NAP [Naples] to VIE [Vienna]
June 27, 2019
Depart: 3:00 PM
Arrive: 4:35 PM
Duration: 1hr35min
Aircraft: E195
Seat: 1A

We began the journey with a stop in the Naples VIP Lounge, which interestingly was not available to business class passengers on Austrian, but was accessible with my Priority Pass membership.

After a quick stop at the lounge, it was time to board. This E195 was painted with the special Star Alliance livery.

Austrian’s narrow-body planes fly with the typical European business class with the seat beside you blocked. A movable partition behind business class allows the cabin to expand according to demand. Once the other two business class passengers sat down, we were free to move around and decided to sit next to our travel partners in the first row.

Once everyone else had gotten to their seats, the captain came on and announced an ATC delay of about an hour. The wonderful crew responded appropriately and served us some sparkling wine and crackers while we waited.

After just over an hour, we made our way towards the runway for a full-power takeoff out of Naples.

About twenty minutes later, it was time for lunch. I decided to go with a spinach gnocchi served with a side of bread and a dessert. Despite its appearance, it was pretty darn tasty and piping hot too.

I also sampled some of the delicious Austrian coffee

Here you can see the beautiful Austrian countryside as we approached Vienna International Airport.

We were on the ground just over an hour behind schedule and were taken by bus to the terminal.

The EVA air advertisements on the bus were quite intriguing.

So far, I was loving Austrian and their service. Next up, was our layover in Vienna.

 

A Layover in Vienna

Even with the delay, we had over five hours to spend on the ground, so we hopped on the train and went downtown to do some exploring.

We made our way to St. Stephen’s Cathedral first. Originally, we had planned to just walk around, but with heavy backpacks and a large city underfoot, we hired a horse-drawn carriage to drive us around.

Our journey took us past Das Äußeres Burgtor, Kirche am Hof, the Hofburg Palace, and the Austrian National Library among other beautiful sights.

Vienna was beautiful and seeing the city was a great way to spend a layover. I look forward to coming back for a much longer visit in the near future.

Next up: a luxurious trip to Bangkok aboard Austrian’s long-haul business class.

-Matt