Traffic Results for November 2012: Austrian Airlines Increases Number of Passengers Carried

The Austrian Airlines Group increased the number of passengers carried in the period January to November 2012 by 1.7 percent from the prior-year level to a total of 10.7 million passengers. The passenger load factor was up by 3.7 percentage points, rising to 77.6 percent in the first eleven months of the year. Capacity as measured by available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 3.8 percent, whereas the comparable figure for revenue passenger kilometers /RPK) improved by 1.1 percent.

Considering the month of November 2012 in itself, Austrian Airlines carried about 863,000 passengers. Although the capacity in available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 8.2 percent, the number of passengers carried actually rose by 2.3 percent compared to November 2011. The capacity decline can be attributed to the sale of six medium-haul aircraft (Boeing 737) in contrast to the putting into operation of the first two new Airbus 320 in the airline’s fleet. This means Austrian Airlines had four aircraft less in use than the year before. The passenger load factor improved to 75.3 percent in November 2012, an improvement of 5.3 percentage points from November 2011.

Europe
In November 2012, a total of 727,000 passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in Europe. This comprises an increase of 3.7 percent from the previous year in spite of the capacity decline of 4.5 percent. The passenger load factor rose by 6.3 percentage points to 73.9 percent.

In the period January to November 2012, Austrian Airlines carried more than 8.5 million passengers in Europe, corresponding to an increase of 2.8 percent. The passenger load factor during this period rose by 3.5 percentage points to 75.2 percent.

Intercontinental
In November 2012 capacity on intercontinental flights was down by 11.9 percent in a year-on-comparison due to the technical downtime required for converting its long-haul aircraft. The number of passengers carried on intercontinental flights decreased by only 6.6 percent to somewhat over 120,000. Accordingly, the passenger load factor was 76.3 percent, or 4.5 percentage points above the prior-year level.

In the period January to November 2012, Austrian Airlines carried a total of more than 1.5 million passengers on its intercontinental flights, a drop of 0.8 percent from the previous year. The passenger load factor climbed 4.2 percentage points to 79.6 percent.

Charter
In November 2012, passenger volume amounted to 15,300, up 13.2 percent from the previous year. The passenger load factor rose by 5.1 percentage points to 81.8 percent.

In the period January to November 2012, a total of 596,000 passengers flew with the Charter segment of Austrian Airlines, a drop of 6.1 percent from the prior-year level. The passenger load factor was up 2.4 percentage points to 79.2 percent.