Revenue passenger kilometers increase by 20.9% and scheduled load factor rises to 74%
The month of April has seen the Austrian Airlines Group reporting above-average growth in passenger traffic compared to its aviation sector competitors.

With newly integrated routes to Iasi and Sibiu in Romania, Donetsk and Odessa in Ukraine, Pecs in Hungary and Ekaterinburg in Russia, and a third daily service to Moscow to begin in June 2006, the company is continuing to build strongly upon its market leadership in Eastern Europe.

The combinable fare concept that came onstream in April, newly introduced internet booking platform and innovative traffic flow management system are the solid foundations of a tailor-made product that is designed to exploit full market potential even more effectively.

Rising kerosene prices and the continuing downward pressure on market prices remain an ongoing challenge for the Austrian Airlines Group. 

The revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) that were sold on scheduled services in April increased by 20.9% compared to the previous year. In the same period, availability expanded by 15.5%.

The passenger load factor on scheduled services, at 74.0%, was 3.3 percentage points up on last year.

The Austrian Airlines Group carried around 751,000 passengers on its scheduled services in April, pushing growth up by 12.9% as a result. With a double-digit rise in passenger volume of 12.5% compared to April 2005, the Austrian Airlines Group was once again able to post a strong increase.

The Group carried a total of 864,000 passengers on its scheduled and charter services.

The traffic result of the Austrian Airlines Group for the first four months of 2006, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) on scheduled services, increased by a substantial 20.4%. Available seat kilometers (ASK) expanded by 13.6% compared to the same period in 2005.

In comparison with 2005, the passenger load factor on scheduled flights improved by 4.1 percentage points to reach 72.8%. With an approximate total of 2.98 million passengers, 13.4% more passengers were carried on scheduled and charter services than in the same period last year.
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