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  Austrian Airlines

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  OS/AUA

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Hub(s):

  Vienna International Airport

  Year Founded:

  1957

  Alliance:

  Star Alliance

  Airline Group:

  Lufthansa Group

  CEO:

  Annette Mann

  Country:

  Austria

  Region:

  Europe

  Loyalty Program:

  Miles & More

Last week, on Sunday, July 24th, an Austrian Airlines Boeing 777-200 flying from Bangkok to Vienna had to divert back to Bangkok after crews reported a malfunctioning oven. The crew made the decision to return to the origin airport out of an abundance of caution, delaying the flight to Bangkok by nearly three hours. This is the third oven-related diversion for Austrian in the past seven years.

Flight details

The Boeing 777-200 operated by Austrian Airlines was registered OE-LPB and was intending to operate flight OS26. From Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) the jet took off a minute before midnight (local time) on July 24th. Unfortunately, approximately 30 minutes into the flight, the aircraft turned around to return to Bangkok. The Aviation Herald notes that this was the result of a malfunctioning oven. Unfortunately, no further details on the equipment issues were disclosed although smoke is a common reason to prompt a diversion.

With the decision to return to the origin airport, the crew took the aircraft down from FL320 to FL310 about 240nm northwest of Bangkok Approximately 45 minutes after turning around over the Andaman Sea, the jet landed safely back at Suvarnabhumi.

The oven was removed, and the aircraft subsequently departed again at around 03:15 local time, reaching Vienna with a delay of about two hours and 45 minutes. Aside from the delay, we would imagine a main outcome being a slower meal service for passengers.

Aircraft details

The incident aircraft is a Boeing 777-200 which is now approximately 24 years old. The aircraft was first delivered to Lauda Air in 1998 and assigned the nickname "Ernest Hemingway." In October 2005 the aircraft moved over to Austrian Airlines as was named "Sydney," before eventually being renamed to "Heart of Europe" in 2007.

The move from Lauda Air to Austrian also meant that the jet had a premium economy cabin installed. Since then, the aircraft has had two additional cabin reconfigurations.

Not Austrian's first malfunctioning oven

Back in 2015, a malfunctioning oven was also the reason for the diversion of an Austrian Boeing 777. As an Austrian spokesperson told one of its passengers on Twitter, the jet had to return to Washington Dulles (IAD) due to an oven in the rear galley developing smoke. The affected jet was not the same as last Sunday's 777, as the 2015 aircraft was registered OE-LPA.

In August of 2019, an Austrian Airlines Airbus A321 had to also divert due to an issue in the galley. According to Aero Inside, the oven in the aircraft's aft galley emitted smoke and prompted the flight crew to stop its climb out of Vienna.

Discover more aviation news.

It's rather interesting that Austrian has had three oven-related diversions in the past seven years. With seven years being a fairly long time, it certainly doesn't seem like a big cause for concern. However, if we search for oven-related incidents for other airlines on Aero Inside's database, fewer results appear - indicating that Austrian might be facing a disproportionate number of galley incidents.

Indeed, over the past 10 years, fellow group airline Lufthansa shows only one oven-related diversion. This is a significant difference, especially when considering how much larger Lufthansa's operations are. The same goes for American Airlines and British Airways, which each show just a single oven-related-diversion over the past decade. Of course, this may all come down to reporting (or lack thereof). But, on the surface, it does appear that Austrian Airlines has more oven issues than its fellow airlines. Perhaps the airline (and Lauda Air) chose the wrong equipment supplier for its galleys back in the late-1990s.

What do you think of this incident? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Sources: The Aviation Herald, FlightRadar24.com, Planespotters.net, Aero Inside