For Immediate Release Contact:

Austrian Announces New, Gourmet "Meinl" Coffee On-Board - Coffee with a pedigree from the dawn of the Austrian coffee house era - (New York, April 16, 2004)


Austrian Airlines now serves the upscale brand Meinl coffee on-board its trans-Atlantic flights between Vienna and America.
"We are proud to announce this excellent addition to our food and beverage service," said Guenter Hude, Austrian's General Manager - The Americas.
Meinl coffees are primarily blended from the more costly blue, highland grown Arabica beans.
"Unlike some air carriers that boast of mass-market coffees, we are pleased to offer Austrian Airlines' passengers the Meinl brand, which is the same quality brand of Viennese coffee that they would likely be served in many of the finest Austrian coffee houses, restaurants and hotel dining rooms," Mr. Hude said.

The Meinl brand of coffee traces its origins to the Imperial era of Kaiser Franz Joseph, the Austrian Emperor who gave Julius Meinl I the license to sell imported Arabica coffee in the early 1860s.
Mr. Meinl's idea to sell already roasted coffee, rather than green beans, was one of his innovations and by 1891, he had begun what many Austrians politely called a "coffee empire."
At the fin de siecle [c. 1900] in the early days of the 20th century, many artists, intellectuals and authors such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka met in typical Viennese coffee houses to exchange ideas while drinking the popular Meinl brand of Austrian coffee, the first already-roasted coffee ever sold in Europe.

"Serving the fine Meinl brand of Austrian coffee in-flight is consistent with our concern to always treat our Austrian Airlines passengers as we would treat personal guests or, as we would say in the German language, verwoehnen, which means to 'spoil' or 'pamper' a guest as one might do in one's own home.
That's the degree of Austrian-style hospitality we always offer to all of our Austrian Airlines passengers in every seat on every flight," Mr. Hude said.

Austrian Airlines offers non-stop, trans-Atlantic service to Vienna, and beyond, from New York/JFK and Washington, DC/Dulles. The Austrian Airlines Group carries more than 8 million passengers annually with global service to 129 destinations in 65 countries on five continents with a fleet of 92 modern aircraft.

Consult your travel agent or call Austrian directly at (800) 843-0002. Austrian Airlines is frequently noted for its friendly service, delicious food and beverage offerings, comfortable, well appointed cabins, and smartly dressed staff.