Austrian Airlines loss of minus 59.4 million euros

Austrian Airlines has reported an operating loss of minus 59.4 million euros in the 2011 financial year. This corresponds to an improvement of 8.2 percent compared to 2010, when the loss stood at minus 64.7 million euros. This means Austrian Airlines has not achieved its original target of a positive operating result. The EBITDA worsened by 35.4 percent from plus 170 million euros in 2010 to plus 109.9 million euros in 2011. Total operating income, at 2,162.8 million euros, remained roughly the same as the previous year, posting a slight rise of 0.6 percent (2010 figure: 2,150.7 million euros). Traffic figures Austrian Airlines increased its capacity measured in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK) by 5.9 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year. By comparison, however, Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) only rose by 1.7 percent. The passenger load factor therefore fell by 3.1 percentage points to 73.8 percent. The reasons for this were the collapse in the company’s core market of the Middle East following the unrest of the Arab Spring, the impact of the tsunami in Japan and the floods in Bangkok on long-haul flights, the higher oil price and the consequences of the second financial crisis. Austrian CEO Jaan Albrecht said the following: “The crises of the past year have relentlessly shown our structural deficits. This is why it was so urgently necessary for us to set up our Work Programme in January, since when we have been working hard to remove these deficits. We must succeed in taking the company back into the profit zone once and for all.” Staffing figures The number of people employed by Austrian Airlines AG on the deadline date of 31st December 2011 stood at 6,777, compared to the figure on 31st December 2010 of 6,943. (Note: since the first quarter of 2011, Austrian Airlines has recorded its staffing figures in “Employees” rather than “Full-time posts” as before, bringing it into line with Lufthansa reporting).