Austrian Airlines Traffic Results for March 2013: Capacity utilization continues to rise

The number of passengers carried by the Austrian Airlines Group in the period January-March 2013 declined by 2.7 percent from the previous year to approximately 2.3 million. On balance, Austrian Airlines reduced capacity by 9.4 percent, which is related to the harsh winter as well as the streamlining of the fleet. Within the context of a fleet harmonization program, the fleet was reduced by four medium-haul aircraft, and one long-haul aircraft was taken out of service to install the new cabin tailored to long-haul flights.
Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) were down by only 5.2 percent. As a result, capacity utilization (passenger load factor) improved by 3.3 percentage points to 74 percent.

Considering the month of March 2013 in itself, Austrian Airlines carried about 886,600 passengers. Austrian Airlines had five fewer aircraft in operation in March 2013 than in the previous year. Capacity in available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 7.3 percent, but the number of passengers fell by only 1.0 percent compared to March 2012. The passenger load factor improved to 77.4 percent in March 2013, an increase of 3.5 percentage points from the prior-year level.

“We are moving in the right direction with respect to capacity management”, says Karsten Benz, Chief Commercial Officer of Austrian Airlines. “Capacity precisely tailored to demand as well as a high level of productivity are very important for the recovery of Austrian Airlines”, he adds.

Europe
In March 2013, a total of 749,100 passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in Europe. This comprises a decline of 0.5 percent from the prior-year level. However, the passenger load factor could be increased by 4.7 percentage points to 74.4 percent.

In the period January to March 2013, Austrian Airlines carried more than 1.9 million passengers in Europe, corresponding to a capacity-related decline of 2.0 percent. In contrast, the passenger load factor during this period rose by 3.9 percentage points to 71.0 percent.

Intercontinental
In March 2013 capacity on intercontinental flights was down by 9.4 percent in a year-on-year comparison due to the technical downtime required for converting its long-haul aircraft. The number of passengers carried on intercontinental flights decreased by only 3.7 percent to about 137,500. Accordingly, the passenger load factor was 80.2 percent during the period under review, or 2.6 percentage points above the prior-year level.

In the period January to March 2013, Austrian Airlines carried a total of approximately 355,400 passengers on its intercontinental flights, a drop of 6.5 percent from the previous year. The passenger load factor climbed 3.0 percentage points to 76.9 percent.