The Austrian Airlines Group achieved an average load factor of 72.5 percent on its flights in December 2009. This figure was 3.1 points above the level recorded for December 2008. Austrian Airlines carried approximately 703,300 passengers. This is 1.7 percent more than in December 2008. Although this means passenger volume was up slightly, this trend is due in part to the fact that the December 2008 figure was unusually weak due to the wider economic crisis. The members of the Austrian Airlines Executive Board, Andreas Bierwirth and Peter Malanik, said the following: “The trend in passenger volume has stabilised thanks to the various measures taken. Despite this, our revenues remain under enormous pressure.”

Austrian Airlines carried almost 2.4 million passengers in the fourth quarter, or 1.3 percent fewer passengers than in the same period the previous year. The load factor (passenger load factor) improved by 2 percentage points to reach 74.6 percent. The trend in the load factor was particularly strong in Western Europe and on long-haul routes.

In the period from January to December 2009, the number of passengers carried, at around 9.9 million, was 10.2 percent down on the previous year’s figure. The load factor fell 0.9 percentage points below the figure for the previous year, holding steady at 74 percent.

Short- and medium-haul
Around 607,200 passengers flew on short- and medium-haul routes with Austrian Airlines in December. This is the equivalent of an increase of 2.9 percent compared to the same month the previous year. The load factor rose to 64.5 percent, an increase of 1.9 percentage points. It proved possible to raise the load factor in all traffic segments: in Eastern Europe the load factor improved by 2.3 percentage points to 62.2 percent, and in Western Europe it rose by 1.3 percentage points to 67.0 percent. We reduced capacity measured in available seat kilometers (ASK) by 1.3 percent, and increased revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) by 1.8 percent.

In the fourth quarter, Austrian Airlines carried some 2 million passengers, or 1.6 percent more than in the same period the previous year. The load factor was 67,6 percent, the equivalent of a rise of 2.3 percentage points. Here, too, it proved possible to raise the load factor in all traffic segments: in the traffic region of Eastern Europe the load factor improved by 1.3 percentage points to 65.2 percent, and in Western Europe it rose by 3.2 percentage points to hit 70.3 percent. We reduced our ASK by 1.1 percent, while the figure for RPK rose by 2.4 percent.

From January to December, around 8 million passengers flew with Austrian Airlines. This figure is 7.1 percent lower than last year. At 67.5 percent, the load factor remained at exactly the same level as the previous year. In Eastern Europe, the load factor fell by 2.5 percentage points to 65.2 percent. In Western Europe, by contrast, it rose by 2.8 percentage points to 70 percent. We cut back our ASK by 3.6 percent. The figure for RPK also fell by 3.6 percent.

Long-haul
In December, the number of passengers travelling on long-haul routes fell by 5.5 percent to 72,500. As we reduced our ASK by 9.8 percent, we managed to increase the load factor by 5.1 percentage points to 84.6 percent.

In the fourth quarter, we carried 234,000 passengers, or 12.2 percent fewer people than in the previous year. We cut our capacity by 13.6 percent, and increased the load factor by 3.2 percentage points to 84.7 percent.

In the period from January to December, 971,200 passengers flew with us. This figure is 19 percent lower than last year. We reduced our ASK by 16.4 percent. The load factor fell by 0.9 percentage points to 81.1 percent.

Charter
In December, passenger volume stood at 23,600, or 5.5 percent down on the previous year. In the charter segment, we significantly reduced capacity in December measured in ASK compared to the previous year, with the figure down by 26.4 percent. 

Passenger volume fell by 21.2 percent in the fourth quarter, to 114,100. We reduced our ASK by 29.3 percent.

From January to December, passenger volume fell by 23 percent to 974,900. We reduced our ASK by 24.1 percent.