Austrian's new 787 is flying in all-white livery, and it's not an environmental issue

The 787 was supposed to be the fleet's new 'flagship', the first 'new' wide-body aircraft to wear the livery of Austrian Airlines Since the middle of the first decade of the 2000s., when Boeing 767-300ERs and Boeing 777-200ERs that are still in service today arrived in the Austrian company's fleet.

And so it will be. But, for now, the only 787-9 is flying in an anonymous all-white livery, operating a series of connections between Vienna, Frankfurt, Berlin and Marrakesh in preparation for its intercontinental debut.

The aircraft (markings OE-LPL) thus arrived in Vienna, May 14., from Spain's Teruel Airport where it has been since November 2023. Like its twin OE-LPM, it is not a newly built aircraft, but has been flying for about 4 years with the Vietnamese airline Bamboo Airways.

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In Teruel received Austrian Airlines interiors in all three of its cabins: Business (from 26 seats), Premium Economy (21) and Economy (247). But not the livery.

Its twin is instead located in Taipei, where it is receiving maintenance and refurbishment. At the moment No word on whether this second Dreamliner will arrive in Vienna in the colors of Austria's national airline Or whether, instead, he will also be blank.

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If so, for Austrian to make the intercontinental debut of the 787, scheduled for June 15 between Vienna and New York JFK, would be an epic fail. If, on the other hand, the second 787 arrives in Austrian's colors, he will most likely be the one to debut on the Vienna-New York, while waiting for his twin to get his fair share of red paint.

Time is running out, because Austrian has announced that as of July 1, a second long-haul destination, Chicago, will pass into the hands of Dreamliner. And putting the livery on an aircraft the size of the 787 is not something that can be done in a few days, provided you also need to find free slots in one of the companies in Europe that do these paint jobs. It is also possible that, while waiting for the two planes to take on Austrian's livery, those routes will continue to be operated with B767s and B777s.

According to Flying Nomad reports, behind the failure to 'color' the first 787 to arrive in Vienna there would be union issuesi and in particular a bitter negotiation between the company and the pilots' union that allegedly even put the entry into service of the 787s with Austrian. The gaps, again according to Flying Nomad, would now be bridged, with the go-ahead for the 787s to be operational.

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