Lauda Air may be catering to the leisure traveller but their Business Class product called Amadeus Class is certainly hard to beat. The quantity and quality of food/service aboard their flights are unbeatable. I guess it pays to be a smaller airline.

Some time ago (2-3 years?) Lauda Air to Austrian was to what Virgin was to British Airways. Competitors. Austrian is with the Qualiflyer Group and Lauda had always been partners with Lufthansa. Then very suddenly one day, Austrian bought a share in LaudaAir. (Imagine BA doing that to Virgin). Everyone was shocked. Me included! It would have been better for Lauda to remain a competitor to Austrian. Still, maybe the alliances each company chooses in the next few weeks would determine their fate.

My wish : Austrian joins DL/AF. NG joins Qualiflyer. NG service is closer to Swissair than Austrian anyway.

[This message has been edited by Celestar340 (edited 09-06-1999).]