Traffic results for January-September 2014: Higher Passenger Volume at Austrian Airlines in Q3 2014

ˇ January to September 2014: 8.7 million passengers, a rise of 50,000
ˇ Passenger growth driven by long-haul expansion

A total of 8.7 million passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in the past nine months of this year. The small increase of about 50,000 passengers or 0.6 percent was driven by the expansion of long-haul flight service to North America. In 2014 Austrian Airlines carried 8.8 percent or around 110,000 more passengers overseas. In contrast, flight traffic on the European continent did not develop so favorably. The political crises in the Ukraine and the Middle East led to short-term flight cancellations and flight service reductions. Accordingly, the number of passengers flying with Austrian Airlines in Europe fell slightly by 0.8 percent.

“Europe is a tough place in which to operate at the present time. We are faced with crises in Eastern Europe, and cheap competition in Western Europe is posing problems for us. From this point of view, our intercontinental expansion turned out to be the right move”, comments Austrian Airlines CEO Jaan Albrecht on the airline’s third-quarter traffic results.

Capacity as measured in available seat kilometers (ASK) was increased by 4.6 percent from January to September 2014. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) were up by 5.9 percent in the same period. As a result, capacity utilization (passenger load factor) in the first three quarters of the year rose by 1.0 percentage points to 79.8 percent, an upward trend which could be continued. In the month of September 2014, fewer passengers were carried by Austrian Airlines in comparison to the prior-year level against the backdrop of an expanded offering. However, capacity utilization also fell year-on-year.

Europe: 7.3 million passengers flew with the red-white-red tail fin
7.3 million passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in Europe in the period January to September 2014, comprising a decline of 0.8 percent from the first three quarters of the previous year. Capacity as measured in available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 1.1 percent. This includes, for example, flights to and from the Ukraine. The destinations Kharkov and Dnjepropetrovsk rank among the traditional Austrian Airlines flight destinations. Due to falling demand, flight service to and from Russia was also adjusted downwards. The passenger load factor was down marginally by 0.1 percentage points to 77.4 percent.

Intercontinental: 1.3 million passengers flew with Austrian, an increase of close to nine percent
In the period January to September 2014, about 1.3 million passengers were carried on intercontinental flights operated by Austrian Airlines. This represents a rise of 8.8 percent year-on-year. The flight offering was expanded by 10.4 percent, whereas the passenger load factor was up by 1.8 percentage points to 82.1 percent.

In the month of September 2014, Austrian Airlines carried a total of about 166,400 passengers on its intercontinental flights or 13.0 percent more passengers than in September of 2013. However, the passenger load factor at 83.2 percent was one percentage point lower than in the previous year.