Austrian Airlines: Dec Passenger Volume Up, Reverses Decline
January 12 2010 - 7:33AM
Dow Jones News
Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI) Tuesday reported a moderate rise
in December passenger numbers, reversing a declining trend, but
cautioned economic conditions remain difficult.
While the number of passengers traveling with Austrian Air in
December rose 1.7% to 703,300, the accumulated 2009 passenger data
showed a full-year decline of 10.2% against 2008, to 9.94 million
passengers. The improvement in December numbers was partly due to
weaker comparatives a year earlier.
The revenue passenger kilometer, a closely watched industry
breakdown measure of profitability, fell 2% in December, and 12.3%
in the full year, Austrian Air said.
Austrian Air said its medium and short-haul segment carried 2.9%
more passengers in December than a year earlier, while its smaller
long-haul and charter segments both lost 5.5% of their
passengers.
"The trend in passenger volume has stabilized thanks to the
various measures taken. Despite this, our revenues remain under
enormous pressure," co-chief executives Peter Malanik and Andreas
Bierwirth said.
Austrian Air, the recently acquired Austrian unit of Deutsche
Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE), noted a passenger decline of 2.2% in
November.
Company Web site: www.austrian.com
-By Flemming E. Hansen, Dow Jones Newswires; +43 1 513 69 22 10;
flemming.hansen@dowjones.com