Austrian Airlines reports 1H2008 Traffic

Carrying an approximate total of 6.3 million passengers (scheduled and charter), the Austrian Airlines Group produced an increase of 1.2% in the first half of 2008 (January to July). The overall load factor stood at the same level as last year, at 74.9%. The planned reduction in passenger volume of 12% on long-haul flights was offset by an 11.2% increase in the number of passengers being carried in the Focus East regions (Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East).

Despite the wider slowdown in the aviation industry, the overall load factor of the Austrian Airlines Group remained stable in July at 79.6%, a slight rise of 0.3 percentage points. A total of around 1.1 million passengers were carried on scheduled and charter services in the month. This figure is 3.8% lower than last year, due to the reduction in capacity. The company again succeeded in achieving growth in passenger volume in its Focus East regions, this time of 0.5%. In the scheduled segment, the group reported a slight passenger reduction of 1.5% in July while the load factor remained stable compared to the previous year’s figure at 77.9%.

Short and Medium Haul

From January to July, the company was able to report a significant increase in passenger volume in the short and medium haul segment, with a rise of 4.9% compared to the previous year. Revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) on scheduled services rose disproportionately strongly, by 6.7%. The majority of this increase can be ascribed to the Focus East region, which grew by 13.4%. With new routes being incorporated into the network, such as Baia Mare in Romania and Sochi and Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, scheduled capacity (measured in available seat kilometres or ASK) increased by 5.1%. The resultant improved passenger load factor stood at 67.5% or 1 percentage point higher than the previous year.

With around 753,500 passengers carried in July, the group achieved a slight fall of 1.4% compared to 2007. While capacity (ASK) expanded by 1.5%, the company increased its figure for revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) by 0.2% on these scheduled services. The passenger load factor in this segment stood at 70.3%, or 0.9 percentage points lower than the comparable figure for 2007. There was a strong increase in capacity in Focus East regions, enabling the company to report passenger growth of 0.5%.

Long Haul Routes

In cumulative terms, around 686,200 scheduled passengers were carried from January to July in the long haul segment, a 12% reduction on the comparable period in 2007, in line with the company’s restructuring plans. While there was a structural reduction in capacity on scheduled services of 16.8% (ASK), revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) on these same scheduled services fell by 17.1%. Accordingly, the passenger load factor in the long-haul segment remained relatively stable at 81.6%.

Due to individual, weather-related flight cancellations, passenger volume fell slightly in July, by 1.9% compared to July 2007. Scheduled capacity (ASK) on long haul routes was 3.3% lower in July than the comparable figure for the previous year, while revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) fell less slowly, by 2%. As a result, the passenger load factor rose by 1.1 percentage points to 86.1%.

Charter Segment

Around 735,000 passengers were carried from January to July due to the planned capacity adjustments, while the passenger load factor increased significantly in July, by 3.2 percentage points compared to July 2007. In the seven months from January to July a rise in the load factor of 2.3 percentage points was also achieved.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Promotions, New Hotels, Austrian Airlines, Traffic, Visitor Arrivals