British Airways’ parent IAG will launch a low-cost Austrian subsidiary under its low-cost Level brand next month.
With an Austrian Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), the new subsidiary begins flying from Vienna on July 17 with four Airbus A321 aircraft.
It will initially fly daily to Palma and twice daily to London Gatwick and over the subsequent four weeks flights will be added to Barcelona, Malaga, Venice, Olbia, Ibiza, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Milan Malpensa, Dubrovnik, Larnaca, Alicante, Valencia and Bilbao.
"We are launching this new short-haul subsidiary to provide Austrian consumers with more flight choices across Europe. These flights will be branded as LEVEL to build upon the huge success of our new long haul low-cost operation," said Willie Walsh, IAG chief executive.
Level was launched in Barcelona last March in a bid to compete with long-haul budget airlines, such as Norwegian Air Shuttle and Wow Air.
Earlier this year IAG failed in its attempt to buy Norwegian and also lost out to Ryanair in a bid to buy Vienna-based Niki.
EasyJet, Eurowings and Wizz Air also have bases in Vienna.
