Not up to standard: Austrian Airlines pulls plug on BRA collaboration with immediate effect
December 16, 2025
Lufthansa subsidiary, Austrian Airlines, has terminated its contract with Braathens Regional Airlines (BRA).
The move comes amid reports that BRA failed to pass an operational audit and therefore “no longer fully meets the Lufthansa Group’s wet lease standards,” a spokesperson for Austrian Airlines told Aerospace Global News.
“Unfortunately, this means that a stable basis for an operational partnership no longer exists at this time. The wet lease cooperation will therefore be terminated with immediate effect and the collaboration suspended until further notice,” the spokesperson continued.
To minimise disruption for passengers, short-term adjustments are being made to the Austrian Airlines flight schedule for the coming days and weeks.
“While some routes will have to be temporarily suspended or frequencies reduced during a transitional phase, other flights can be operated either with the Austrian Airlines fleet or Edelweiss and with other Lufthansa Group partners,” the airline says.
A challenging year for Braathens
The last 12 months have proven testing for the Swedish regional carrier. On 30 September, BRA’s sister airline, Braathens International Airways, filed for bankruptcy for its Airbus operations due to a “lack of liquidity”.
Braathens International Airways was founded in 2022 to operate charter services between Scandinavia and southern Europe. The bankruptcy, which resulted in the immediate cancellation of all Airbus flights operated for tour operators, “only affected the part of the business that operated Airbus aircraft for charter traffic.”
In a statement, the airline said that high operating costs, a decline in passenger demand and delayed aircraft deliveries had resulted in “financial challenges”. Although the Board of Directors had tried to secure funding for a controlled phase-out, this wasn’t achieved, leaving the business with “no choice but to focus on the part of the business that can achieve long-term profitability.”
Braathens’ financial restructuring and ACMI focus
Braathens confirmed at the time that BRA was not subject to the bankruptcy proceedings, with operations for the regional carrier continuing as normal, including leased flights with Braathens’ ATR72-600 aircraft.
Days later, however, Braathens confirmed a financial reorganisation had been initiated for the parent company and BRA. “The process will not have any operational impact on flight,s and production for Austrian Airlines and SAS Scandinavian Airlines will continue as usual,” said a spokesperson for the business.
The goal of the financial reorganisation, the spokesperson said, was to address the transition costs incurred as Braathens shifts to operating solely as an ACMI supplier. “At the same time, the process aims to ensure long-term viability by reducing debt, renegotiating agreements with clients and other parties and reducing operating costs.”
Immediate termination of Austrian Airlines agreement
Austrian Airlines’ decision on 15 December to terminate its wet-lease cooperation with Braathens has taken effect immediately.
The cooperation between the two carriers was first announced in February 2024 for selected routes beginning in the summer of the same year.
Speaking at the time, Michael Trestl, Austrian Airlines’ CEO, explained that demand had not returned on certain regional routes, such as Vienna to Klagenfurt or Kosice, following the pandemic. To facilitate better connectivity on these regional routes, the Austrian carrier had opted to continue connecting the respective destinations to its Vienna hub by adopting adjusted capacity structures.
“I am pleased to have found a proven partner in BRA for this challenging segment,” Trestl said.
In line with the agreement and on the respective routes, aircraft and crews were provided by BRA. Flights were operated on two ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft, as a more economical, efficient choice compared to Austrian’s own Embraer 195 jets, which had been operating the routes.
In the current winter flight schedule, a total of three ATR aircraft from BRA were used on behalf of Austrian Airlines for a total of 12 destinations. These included Klagenfurt, Kosice, Leipzig/ Halle, Belgrade, Graz, Warsaw and Zagreb. Some routes were operated entirely by Braathens at varying frequencies, while others were only partially operated.
Where possible, Austrian plans to replace the impacted services with its own Embraer 195 or Airbus A320 aircraft.
Austrian’s fleet gets a makeover
On 12 December, Austrian confirmed that its short-and medium-haul fleet rollover has begun. The airline is bidding farewell to 17 Embraer aircraft, 13 of which will continue to fly with Austrian’s sister company Air Dolimiti. The remaining four Embraer aircraft will be sold externally.
The first of Austrian’s decommissioned E195s departed Vienna for Verona on 12 December, with the rest of the Embraer fleet due to be phased out by the end of 2028.
The Austrian carrier is replacing its Embraer E195 aircraft with six brand-new Airbus A320neo aircraft, each with 180 seats. The first of these aircraft is due in summer 2026. The airline’s long-haul fleet is also being renewed. In mid-2024, the first two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners were added to the Austrian Airlines fleet. Ten more of these aircraft type are expected to join the fleet by the end of 2028.
Uncertain outlook for Braathens
Despite BRA’s shift to focus almost exclusively on Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) leasing rather than operating its own services, the loss of its collaboration with Austrian will undermine Braathens’ recovery strategy and prompt further uncertainty for the regional airline.
