Austrian: “Traffic Results for April 2013: Increased capacity utilization in Europe”

The number of passengers carried by the Austrian Airlines Group in the period January-April 2013 declined by 3.7 percent from the previous year to approximately 3.2 million. On balance, Austrian Airlines reduced capacity by 9.8 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. In addition, one long-haul aircraft was taken out of service because it is being equipped with the new cabins tailored to long-haul flights.

Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) were down by only 7.0 percent. As a result, capacity utilization (passenger load factor) improved overall compared to the previous year by 2.3 percentage points to 74.6 percent.

Considering the month of April 2013 in itself, Austrian Airlines carried about 922,300 passengers. Austrian Airlines had five fewer aircraft in operation in April 2013 than in the previous year. Capacity in available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 11.1 percent. Due to public holidays (Easter) the revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) were down by 11.7 percent. The passenger load factor fell slightly by 0.5 percentage points from the prior-year level to 76.3 percent.

“We have succeeded in continuing the positive trend with respect to productivity and capacity utilization”, says Karsten Benz, Chief Commercial Officer of Austrian Airlines. “It is apparent that we are maintaining our ability to orient our capacities quite well to market demand.”

Europe
In April 2013, a total of 796,600 passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in Europe. This comprises a decline of 4.6 percent from the prior-year level. However, the passenger load factor could be increased by 1.7 percentage points to 75.7 percent.

In the period January to April 2013, Austrian Airlines carried more than 2.7 million passengers in Europe, corresponding to a capacity-related decline of 2.7 percent. In contrast, the passenger load factor during this period rose by 3.3 percentage points to
72.3 percent.

Intercontinental
In April 2013 capacity on intercontinental flights was down by 13.4 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 16.5 percent to about 125,800. Accordingly, the passenger load factor was 76.8 percent during the period under review, or 2.5 percentage points below the prior-year level.

In the period January to April 2013, Austrian Airlines carried a total of approximately 481,400 passengers on its intercontinental flights, a drop of 9.3 percent from the previous year. The passenger load factor climbed 1.4 percentage points to 76.8 percent.