The Austrian Airlines Group has reacted to the present market situation in good time by adjusting capacity to the low level of demand. This has enabled Austrian Airlines to keep its passenger load factor in the first half-year of 2009 comparatively stable at 70.9 per cent. Dr. Andreas Bierwirth and Dr. Peter Malanik, Austrian Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Operations Officer respectively, commented as follows:
“The result shows that we are well positioned thanks to our evaluation of the market. We have taken effective countermeasures at an early stage, and by doing so we have also succeeded in keeping our passenger load factor at an acceptable level in comparison with the industry as a whole. We are using all the resources available to us to deal with the crisis.”
Traffic result overall
Austrian Airlines reduced its capacity, where measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), by 12.4 per cent in the first half-year compared to the same period in 2008. As a result, the number of passengers carried fell by 14.3 per cent. Overall, Austrian Airlines welcomed 4.5 million passengers onto its aircraft during the first six months of the year. Proportional to the lower capacity, the level of demand fell by 16.1 per cent measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK). In this way, it proved possible to keep the passenger load factor relatively stable, with the figure falling slightly by 3.1 percentage points to reach 70.9 per cent.
Austrian Airlines reduced its capacity by 15.9 per cent in June (ASK) compared to the figure for June 2008. Passenger volume went down in parallel by 13.7 per cent. Consequently, a total of 885,300 passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in June. Revenue passenger kilometers fell by 17.9 per cent in parallel with this reduction in capacity, enabling the company to keep the passenger load factor in the month of June alone relatively stable; the figure for June fell slightly by 1.8 percentage points to 73.0 per cent.
Short- and medium-haul segment
The Austrian Airlines Group carried some 3.6 million scheduled passengers in the short- and medium-haul segment in the first six months of 2009, 11.6 per cent fewer than in the same period last year. In the face of a prompt reduction in capacity of 5.7 per cent (ASK), the company saw its revenue passenger kilometers on scheduled services (RPK) fall proportionately by 7.9 per cent. As a result, the passenger load factor in this segment reached 65.4 per cent, 1.6 percentage points below the figure for 2008.
Passenger volume in the short- and medium-haul segment in June alone fell by 8.7 per cent. In this segment too, Austrian Airlines had already cut capacity by 6.4 per cent (ASK) compared to last year as a precautionary measure. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) fell in parallel by 5.7 per cent. In this way, it proved possible to keep the passenger load factor stable, with the figure rising slightly by 0.5 percentage points to 68.9 per cent.
Capacity was cut by 16.9 per cent in the long-haul segment in the first half-year, primarily thanks to the cancellation of the Mumbai route and reductions in the services to New York and Washington. As a result, the number of passengers carried also fell, by 23.3 per cent compared to the previous year. Overall, 439,800 passengers took an Austrian long-haul flight during this period. Proportionately, the figure for revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) also fell, by 21.7 per cent. The passenger load factor fell proportionately by 4.7 percentage points, to reach 76.1 per cent.
Capacity on long-haul services (ASK) in the month of June fell by 19.5 per cent compared to June 2008, so that the total number of passengers carried was also lower, falling by 25.1 per cent. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) fell in parallel by 24.3 per cent, producing a passenger load factor 4.9 percentage points lower.
By adjusting capacity on a targeted basis, the company succeeded in keeping its passenger load factor in the charter segment stable both in June and over the first half-year. Due to planned capacity adjustments, the number of passengers carried in this segment fell by 26 per cent in the first half-year, and by 29.5 per cent in the month of June. Consequently, the passenger load factor for the first half-year remained the same as over the same period in 2008, while the figure for June rose by 2.5 percentage points.
(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 16-Jul-09
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Traffic Result of the Austrian Airlines Group for First Half-Year 2009 
