Star Alliance is beefing up its presence on the U.S. East Coast with two new routes, one to Boston and one to Newark.
Austrian Adds Vienna to Boston Flight
Austrian will add a new flight from Vienna (VIE) to Boston (BOS) starting on March 29, 2020. The service will initially operate four days per week and increase to six days per week by the middle of April (no service on Mondays).
The route will operate according to the following schedule:
OS91 dep VIE 1:25PM – arr BOS 4:30PM
OS92 dep BOS 6:52PM – arr VIE 8:25AM+1
Austrian will utilize a 767-300 on the route, which I’ve reviewed in business class here. This flight will replace Austrian’s service to Miami, which it is suspending due to low demand. This new route is part of Austrian’s larger strategy to fight for survival in the face of fierce competition from budget carriers in Vienna.
> Read More: Austrian Airlines 767-300 Business Class
> Read More: Austrian Airlines Announces Cuts, Blaming “Brutal Competition” In Vienna
Turkish Adds Istanbul to Newark Flight
Returning to Newark for the first time since 1994, Turkish Airlines will introduce service from Istanbul (IST) to Newark (EWR) on May 25, 2020.
Turkish has hinted at this flight for years, but has finally made it official. The route will operate according to the following schedule:
TK29 dep IST 6:35PM – arr EWR 10:30PM
TK30 dep EWR 12:25AM – arr IST 5:10PM
Turkish will utilize an Airbus A330 on the new route. I’ve reviewed it, though Turkish offers at least three configurations of this aircraft.
> Read More: Turkish Airlines A330 Business Class Review
> Read More: Not the Turkish Airlines A330 I was Expecting…
Turkish will use an A330-300 variant to Newark with business class seating like the 777-300ER (except no middle seats).
Newark is a logical addition for Turkish since it is a major hub for United Airlines, a “frenemy” Star Alliance partner. I expect an increased codeshare relationship which will offer United-originating passengers domestic connections in Turkey and Turkish-originating passengers onward connections in the USA.
Turkish already flies to JFK up to three times per day during peak season.
CONCLUSION
As we progress in an era in which the influence of airline alliances is waning, alliance networks still offer a compelling value proposition to passengers who wish to collect miles in a single account or enjoy limited status recognition like lounge access or priority boarding. Star Alliance remains the powerhouse alliance for transatlantic travel and these new routes from Austrian and Turkish only increase this advantage.
Are you excited to fly Austrian from Boston or Turkish from Newark?
The new morning IST-IAD route has been largely ignored. Will operate in summer season 3-4X a week
Take a look at the times for the Turkish flights. Arrives EWR at 10:30PM. There are literally NO connections on United from Newark at that time of night. I wouldnt expect any enhanced relationship at Newark. This is all about accessing the large, wealthy, New Jersey/ Western Manhattan market, from which originates a ton of traffic and to which a large number of people from all over the world travel. This flight is using Newark as a spoke feeding the Istanbul hub. The flight is not designed at all, and is physically incapable of, providing any meaningful transfer traffic to/from United at Newark.
Agree with Jason…..Arriving passengers would not be able to connect to *A partner UA unless they were taking redeye’s to West Coast (which TK already serves). Timing is a bit odd. I know they were looking for available slots- perhaps this was the only time slot available and they will trade with another carrier.
Really doesn’t make any sense – at least not on a connections basis !
Ric- you miss my point. This makes total sense. Also, this arrival time into newark doesn’t permit any connectivity. There are no westbound flights after midnight. This flight exists to serve the extremely large metro New York/New Jersey market. Turkish can fill it up based on the strength of local demand to Istanbul plus the range of destinations available for connection from Istanbul. This flight times perfectly into a large bank of flights. No free from United necessary to make this work