Lufthansa vs Austrian Airlines: Choosing Right Airlines

Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines cover a lot of the same European routes. Lufthansa flies out of Frankfurt and Munich, Austrian out of Vienna, and the two have been in the same group since 2009.

Let’s look at the differences in each of these areas, so you can decide which airline is better for your travels.

• Where each airline flies
• How many bags you get
• What you get onboard
• What their shared ownership means for you

Where Each Airline Flies

Lufthansa wins

Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt and Munich to more than 200 destinations, around 20 of them in the United States. It is a founding member of Star Alliance.

Austrian Airlines flies from Vienna International Airport to 133 destinations in its 2026 summer schedule, 20 of them long-haul, and it is in Star Alliance as well. Six of those long-haul destinations are in the United States: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Newark, and Washington.

Lufthansa serves around 200 destinations to Austrian’s 133, and reaches roughly 20 US cities to Austrian’s six. If your trip starts or ends outside Europe, that gap decides most itineraries on its own.

Here’s our comparison of Lufthansa and British Airways, if you want to see how Lufthansa stacks up against another European airline.

How Many Bags You Get

It’s a tie

The two airlines run almost the same baggage rules, which is what you would expect from two airlines in the same group. What changes your allowance is the fare you book, not the airline you book it with. Read our guide to baggage allowances if you want the wider picture.

Carry-on, Lufthansa:

• Economy and premium economy — 1 bag up to 8 kg
• Business and first — 2 bags up to 8 kg each

Carry-on, Austrian Airlines:

• Economy and premium economy — 1 bag up to 8 kg
• Business — 2 bags up to 8 kg each

The bag can be 55 x 40 x 23 cm on either airline, and you get a small personal item on top of it in every cabin.

Checked, Lufthansa:

• Economy — 1 bag up to 23 kg
• Premium economy — 2 bags up to 23 kg each
• Business — 2 bags up to 32 kg each, or 1 on a Business Light fare
• First — 3 bags up to 32 kg each

Checked, Austrian Airlines:

• Economy — 1 bag up to 23 kg, and nothing at all on an Economy Light fare, where the first bag starts at 60 euros
• Premium economy — 2 bags up to 23 kg each, or 1 on a Premium Economy Light fare
• Business — 2 bags up to 32 kg each

Neither airline accepts a single bag over 32 kg, or one whose width, height, and depth add up to more than 158 cm. Sports equipment and other outsized items have to be declared before you fly, and neither airline carries them free.

Compare the fare tiers rather than the airlines. A Lufthansa Business Light ticket and an Austrian Economy Light ticket both take away a bag you might assume you had.

Flying either of them? RatePunk Flights watches fares out of your home airport and shows you the drops in the app and on your dashboard, with a weekly email rounding up the best of them. Join and start saving on your travels.

What You Get Onboard

Lufthansa wins

Lufthansa sells four cabins on long-haul routes: economy, premium economy, business, and first. Austrian sells three, and the highest class is business.

Lufthansa is partway through replacing its long-haul interiors with a cabin it calls Allegris, first class included, and expects 35 aircraft to be flying it out of Frankfurt and Munich by the end of 2026. Until then, which cabin you actually get depends on the aircraft, so check the type before you book.

Austrian’s newest long-haul interior is on its Boeing 787-9, which seats 26 in business, 21 in premium economy, and 247 in economy. Every seat in business sits next to an aisle, so you never need to climb over someone.

The food is generally better on Austrian. A DO & CO chef flies with the aircraft on long-haul routes and finishes the business class meals onboard, a service Austrian calls Tastefully Austrian. Skytrax named its premium economy catering the best in the world in 2019.

Who Owns Whom and Why It Matters

This is why they feel so similar

Lufthansa bought Austrian Airlines in 2009. The takeover was complete on September 3rd of that year, and Austrian has been inside the Lufthansa Group since. It kept its own name, its own crews, its own Vienna hub, and its own service.

That ownership is why so much of this comparison comes out even. The two sit in the same alliance, so miles you earn on one are worth something on the other. They sell the same ladder of fares, with the same baggage rules attached to each rung. The rules that look identical above are identical because the same company wrote them.

It also means you rarely have to choose between the airlines as brands. Most of the time you are choosing between two schedules and two connecting airports.

Which One Should You Book?

Lufthansa flies to more places, sells a first class Austrian does not, and connects through two hubs instead of one. Austrian runs a smaller network entirely through Vienna and puts more into the catering.

Which one to book:

• Lufthansa, if your destination is outside Austrian’s 133, you want first class, or Frankfurt or Munich connects better for you than Vienna.
• Austrian, if Vienna is the easier connection, or you are flying business long-haul and the meal matters to you.

Past that, they are the same company, and the fare and the schedule will decide it for you.

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