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Merit -
Extraordinary
August - 2003 |
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4
Stars & 5 Stripes
Overall - 'Service & Comfort' |
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The Ultimate Award:
Seven Stars and Stripes® |
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| Arrival at JFK, the
heartbeat airport of the western world, with sleek squeaky marble floors and
sound control (God knows how they accomplish that…) created as usual a
comfortable and welcoming feeling. Austrian Air, which I approached shares
their VIP lounge with other Star Alliance affiliate group partners, and turned
out to be a veritable pleasure palace considering the diverse display of snacks
and beverages available to the discriminating traveler in waiting. I was
hungry, what else? |
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| This was the
beginning of an 8-hour non-stop flight with the elite Austrian Airlines Grand
Class. I noticed a decent looking bottle of 2002 Würtemburger Trollinger
Red wine, from Germany. It is a pleasant wine of which the grapes ripen very
late, are fragrant, fresh, fruity, have good acidity with a distinctive earthy
finish and grow almost exclusively in Württemberg, and I just couldn't
resist. As I sipped the Pinot Noir-like Trollinger wine, I wistfully gazed over
to the 'wall of vision and sound' to absentmindedly watch the whole host of
talking heads as they pitched their wares to a small audience. I enjoyed the
VIP - Lounge with the highly trained, friendly personnel providing great
service! |
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Suddenly, the
call came through to proceed to the gate for the boarding of Austrian flight
088 scheduled for departure direct from JFK to the imperial city of Vienna. I
hurried through the corridors to begin my upcoming reviews of some of the
finest hotels and restaurants in the world starting with the Grand Hotel
Wien.
“Through a strange twist of fate, I was awarded a special
seat in 'Grand' Class ... and I slid into a cavernous seat #2-d next to
business traveller Dale who was on her way to Vienna for a pharmaceutical
conference. I quietly calculated my good fortune at being placed next to
someone who could possibly provide medical assistance in case of a turbulent
flight, but this was not to be! Austrian’s capable captain guided our
airbus on an effortlessly comfortable flight as if we were floating on a
gossamer jet stream.”
Today Austrian has a modern fleet at just
6.2 years; the average age of the aircraft is substantially below the European
mean. This makes Austrian fleet one of the most modern (and safest) in the
world and the ever-increasing destination choices seem to offer the passenger
access to all parts of the globe. Not bad considering it all started on April
1, 1918 when scheduled international air service was introduced by Austria with
its first connection between Vienna and Kiev. |
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The top
priority for the companies of the Austrian Airlines Group is to fulfill
passenger requirements to the very highest standards.
This means
outdoing the competition in every facet of service that the traveler demands
while maintaining the unique gentle character of the host country Austria.
I found the service to be beyond the norm, with caring flight attendants
accommodating my every request. |
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| Once settled into
my comfortable seat, I was immediately offered a glass of Schlumberger Sekt (a
delicate sparkling wine from Austria) with a 'gemütliches' smile and
special gift of a zippered pouch containing bathroom and sleeping essentials of
excellent quality. |
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| Schlumberger Sparkling
Brut shines with bright yellow and green reflections, a delightfully refreshing
apricot essence, tart smoky ripe fruit, and a flattering abundance of
fine-pearled effervescence with a pleasant response. This fine wine becomes
sparkling by using the exclusive Methode Champenois a traditional method of
making champagne. |
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Well cooled at 8 degrees
C on a summer terrace, Schlumberger Sparkling Brut is an ideal aperitif, and
goes well with smoked or poached salmon, grilled sea bass, oysters, vegetable
quiches, salads tossed with Thousand-Island dressing, and lightly-broiled white
meat. |
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Shortly after
came the bilingual menus of 'essen und trinken' and English or German
newspapers and magazines.
I ordered dinner from the professional
attendant and when the appetizer arrived we began our push back leading us to
the take-off sequence. Meanwhile, with Schlumberger flowing like the Danube, I
perused the wine list and noticed that it was assembled by Sommelier Ritter of
Steiermark Austria who is currently at a fine restaurant in Mayerling just
southwest of Vienna. I was now being prepared for the main course by the
attendant placing the cutest little salt and pepper shakers (my wife would have
said…) and shaved butter in front of me. Lets have a detailed look at what
'airline food' has become in the hands of Austrian Air's gourmet
chefs: |
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- Amuse: Keta
Caviar, Alaskan Salmon roe with hard cooked Quail's Egg. These large grain,
red-orange eggs are very mild and succulent in flavor.
- Hors
d´oeuvre: Smoked brook trout in aspic with quark, a type of low fat
cottage cheese made in Austria and Germany, with horseradish.
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- Main course:
Veal steak in mushroom gravy, tomato risotto and broccoli accompanied by a
glass of Riesling Smaragd 2002 Wachstum Bodenstein, Prager Vineyards. This
special wine has an exotic fruit nose, multilayered juicy palate, delicate
citrus fruit aroma and good balance.
- Salad:
Seasonal fresh mixed green salad with grape tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette
dressing.
After this nearly
sumptuous dinner at 30,000 feet, my café mélange arrived with a
fresh made apple strudel and I was ready to kick back and test the limits of my
most comfortable ergonomic and electrically adjustable seats. |
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The 57 inch
(144.8 cm) seat pitch offers its discriminating passengers two advantages: more
leg room and a superior 155 degree recline, along with a seat width of 19.29
inches (49cm).
It seemed as if I was sitting alone in the cabin and as
I looked up I noticed that the designers had thoughtfully removed the overhead
luggage compartments to provide the traveler with a feeling of extended
openness. Why not think of everything?
The Grand Class seat
offers also a TFT in-seat video system including 8 video and 8 audio channels
with different genres. Also available are videogames, but I decided to read
some material about Vienna - supported by the in-seat-reading lamp. It was
important to me to be fully informed as to what to do and see while in the
'Heart of Europe' and the flight attendants helped me with some personal
recommendations of their own. I even learned of a cute little 'Kaffeehaus' on
the Dorotheergasse called 'Café Hawelka' where I must order the unique
'Powidltascherl' a pastry pocket filled with sweet prune-butter. |
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Heading
towards Vienna it is now time for a relaxing nap, the footrest and the 155
degree recline supported me and helped me to fly in relaxing heaven.
I
am convinced that Austrian Air understands their business and it seems obvious
that the Austrian Airlines Group will continue to offer the utmost in quality
service and comfort in future. It is truly a great way to hop over the
ocean! |
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| Before landing,
snacks were offered by the friendly crew, I couldn't resist - I grabbed my
favorite
mozzarella
sandwich, with another freshly brewed cafe mélange - not bad at all
for airline-cuisine. |
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Austrian Airlines CEO
Vagn SOERENSEN,
born December 12, 1959 in Vandel, Denmark.
He is
married and has two daughters and one son. He has a Master of Economics from
the University Aarhus.
1993 - 1994 Senior Vice President &
General Manager, SAS Business Division
1994 - 2001 Senior Vice
President & General Manager, SAS Business Systems Division
2001 -
08/2001 Executive Vice President & Deputy CEO
As of 1-10-2001
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Austrian Airlines Group |
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John Lomitola: Servus
Austria ! |
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