Austrian Airlines Traffic Results for August 2012: Targeted capacity adjusted, further improvement of passenger load factor

The Austrian Airlines Group increased the number of passengers carried in the period January to August 2012 by 2.9 percent from the prior-year level to a total of 7.6 million passengers. The passenger load factor was up 3.3 percentage points, rising to 77 percent. Capacity as measured by available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 1.8 percent. At the same time the comparable figure for revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) improved by 2.7 percent.

Considering the month of August 2012 in itself, Austrian Airlines carried about 1.1 million passengers. Due to the capacity reduction, the number of passengers carried was down 5.6 percent compared to August 2011. Capacity (ASK) was reduced by 9.3 percent, due to the fact that four medium-haul aircraft (Boeing 737) were sold. The passenger load factor was up to a high level of 85.4 percent, up 5.8 percentage points from the prior-year period. Revenue passenger kilometers declined by 2.6 percent.

“In August we further reduced capacity in a targeted manner. But once again we succeeded in increasing productivity, passenger load factor and thereby also profitability”, says Karsten Benz, Chief Commercial Officer of Austrian Airlines.

Europe
In August 2012 a total of 819,900 passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in Europe. This represents a drop of 6.3 percent compared to the previous year, which is due to the extensive capacity reduction. The passenger load factor improved by 5.1 percentage points to 82.1 percent.

In the period January to August 2012, more than 6 million passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in Europe. This comprises a rise of 4.1 percent. The passenger load factor amounted to 74.1 percent, an increase of 3 percentage points.

Intercontinental
In August 2012, the number of passengers carried on intercontinental flights rose by 1.6 percent to 158,900. The passenger load factor was 87.2 percent, up 6.7 percentage points from the previous year’s figure.

In the period January to August 2012, Austrian Airlines carried a total of 1.1 million passengers on its intercontinental flights, an increase of 0.7 percent from the prior-year level in spite of the effects relating to the crisis in the Middle East.

The passenger load factor climbed 4 percentage points to 79.3 percent.

Charter
In August 2012 passenger volume amounted to 102,800, – due to the extensive capacity reduction – down 10.1 percent from the previous year. The passenger load factor rose by 4.4 percentage points to 90.9 percent.

In the period January to August 2012, 448,900 passengers flew with the Charter segment of Austrian Airlines, representing a drop of 7.4 percent from the previous year. The passenger load factor was up 1.5 percentage points to 79 percent.