Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 Economy Class from Brussels to Vienna

Leaving Brussels International Airport (BRU) on its busiest day of the year was not one of my best decisions. At least, that’s what I thought as I got off the bus and had to join the crowd trying to get into the terminal building.

On July 26, I flew Economy Class between Brussels Airport And Vienna International Airport To Austrian Airlines as part of my overall trip from Brussels to Cairo International Airport . I have travelled through Vienna before, but it was a few years ago now, so I can’t remember exactly. My journey this time took almost 8 hours in total, including a 2 hour and 45 minute transfer at the airline’s hub.

A busy Brussels airport

Checking in for my flight was very easy and was done online. As expected, I entered personal details including my passport number etc. before being asked to select a seat. I chose the emergency exit rows for both flights as I was travelling alone and would appreciate the extra legroom given the departure times. My itinerary was as follows:

*The local time is one hour ahead of Vienna time. There is no time difference between Brussels and Vienna.

The total transfer time was 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I took public transport to Brussels Airport, which was quick and easy. There were no delays, although I later learned that the motorway was extremely busy. Luckily I didn’t come by car.

I got off the bus and saw how busy Brussels Airport was. There was quite a queue to get into the airport and going up the escalators to the departure hall took a while. I made my way to the Lufthansa Group (LHG) baggage drop-off area, which is super convenient. Brussels is a Lufthansa Group headquarters, so the offers are of course well signposted and organized.

As usual, there was no queue at all at LHG’s baggage drop, even though the airport was packed. In the distance I could see other airlines’ check-in counters with huge queues; it seemed like some airlines were just not prepared for such a busy day. I scanned my boarding pass for the Brussels-Vienna route and my baggage tag was printed with Cairo as the final destination. I stuck it on, went to the baggage drop counter, scanned the tag and off I went.

Afterwards, I made my way back to the escalators and met with the Senior Communications Manager at Brussels Airport to discuss the busy day.

Safety and boarding

As the flight was operating within the Schengen area, I didn’t have to go through passport control. Security was surprisingly quick and efficient and I was out in no time. I went through the duty free shop and sat down to get something to eat as I had about three hours to spare due to my early arrival.

Photo: Dillon Shah | Easy Flying

Brussels Airport warned on its website of an extremely busy period and urged passengers to arrive on time. I entered the details of my flight into the airport’s arrival time calculator and it told me to arrive at the airport between 15:10 and 15:40, just under 3 hours before my departure flight (17:55).

Because of the pre-scheduled interview and knowing it was a busy day, I arrived almost four hours before my flight. Had I known the airport would be so efficient on such a busy day, I definitely would have arrived later!

Eventually it was time to board and I made my way to Gate A45. I sat there for a while while priority boarding began but very quickly Group 3 was called. As I scanned my boarding pass I was quickly stopped by the gate agent who double checked that I was OK with sitting in the emergency exit row.

The crew and the cabin

I entered the plane and was greeted warmly by the crew member. While I only had a backpack with me, the people behind me had a suitcase that the crew member had brought up with him.

“No, there’s nothing wrong, I just love the color!”

This was a really nice interaction and one of many the crew had with passengers throughout the flight. They were professional, efficient and cordial.

As mentioned, my aisle seat (12C) was in the emergency exit row. This offered enough legroom so that I could stretch my legs out completely. Since I was only traveling with a backpack, it was very easy to find space in the overhead bins to stow it. This was also because I was able to board relatively quickly.

According to AeroLOPA, the emergency exit rows actually offer more legroom than the Business Class on Austrian Boeing 737-800 .

The lack of space for luggage was very evident on this A320ceo, as some of it had to be stowed in the cargo hold. This took even more time, which was a bit inconvenient as the flight was already about 20 minutes late. But no worries, as we soon took off and were on our way to Vienna.

Onboard service and landing

The crew offered us a glass of water and a chocolate, which I thought was very appropriate considering the flight was just over an hour long. I took the opportunity to sleep and do a little work, and before I knew it, we landed in Vienna.

As soon as the plane arrived at the gate, the entire cabin was standing up as people were trying to run to the other end to get their luggage as there was no room in the overhead bins near them. The fasten seatbelt sign was eventually turned off, but by then almost everyone had gotten their luggage. As the cabin started to empty, I stood up, grabbed my luggage and left.

Before I had completely crossed the jet bridge, I stopped to take some photos of the A320 I was sitting in through the (dirty) glass window. A staff member in Vienna saw this and motioned for me to come over. He opened the jet bridge door and said I would have a better view there. I did, and I also had the pleasure of hearing the sounds of the planes outside. What a nice welcome in Vienna, really. Keen readers will recognize that I was already in Vienna last month, flying there from Copenhagen on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787.

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Overall it was a pleasant experience with generous baggage allowance, a tasty snack and nice legroom.

Transit experience

As I had a connecting flight with Austrian Airlines to Cairo, I had to turn right at the end of the jetway. I entered the terminal and had to make my way to the G gates, which was quite a journey. After a few escalators and several turns, I reached passport control.

It was super quick: there was hardly any queue, and as an EU passport holder I was able to go to the so-called “E-Gates” and scan my passport. The doors opened for me and that was it.

Now at the G gates, I looked around for something to eat as my flight wasn’t leaving for another two hours. Unfortunately, the food selection here was extremely poor and I ended up grabbing a (really bad) sandwich before heading to Gate G29 where my flight would depart.

This was to be my last meal of the day before I was surprisingly upgraded to business class for my onward journey to Cairo.