Montana Austria was an airline based in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and existed between 1975 and 1981.

History

Montana Austria was founded in 1975 by Captain Hans Stöckl and started using two

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...

aircraft. The company's name was chosen to reflect the mountainous landscape in Austria. A third Boeing 707 aircraft was acquired in 1977. In the beginning, Montana Austria faced bureaucratic difficulties since the then-national monopoly airline

Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hub ...

tried to obstruct any competition. Finally in November 1976, the airline was granted to serve the

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

route. Additional routes to other destinations, such as

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, were introduced later. Montana Austria operated only long-haul routes which were not served by Austrian Airlines in the 1970s and thus were considered as a niche in the airline business of Austria back then. Since the number of passengers started to decrease in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to an economic crisis, Montana Austria switched its activities from passenger services to cargo transportation. The only passenger service to remain was the one to New York. One of the company's cargo aircraft was loaded with illegal weapons in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and was impounded by US authorities. After the main investor Carl Press of the German freight forwarding company Deugro withdrew his financial support Montana Austria went into receivership and ceased operations. Eventually the Austrian government revoked the airline's operating license. Montana Austria ceased operations in July 1981.Hengi,

Destinations

Boeing 707-138B OE-IRA Montana at VIE 1977-b

Montana Austria served the following scheduled destinations: *

, Iraq *

Thailand *

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, United States *

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria

Fleet

*2 Boeing 707-138B (increased range passenger version acquired from

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

) *1 Boeing 707-396C (cargo aircraft)

References

* {{Airlines of Austria Defunct airlines of Austria Airlines established in 1975 Airlines disestablished in 1981 1981 disestablishments in Austria Austrian companies established in 1975