The Austrian Airlines Group achieved passenger growth of 4.3% in April, with the short- and medium-haul segment driving growth once again with an increase in passenger volume of 6.7%. The total number of passengers carried of approximately 3.2 million people in the period from January to April translated into an increase of 2.9%.

Austrian Chief Executive Officer Alfred Ötsch said the following about the result: “We had a good month in April, with load factor increases in all segments, and are still very much on course to reach our targets in the short- and medium-haul segment, especially in our core markets. We proved our competence as a First Mover in the East once again, with our inaugural flights to the cities of Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod and Baia Mare. Introducing our new Premium Service this summer and incorporating new routes to Riyadh and Jeddah into the schedule will enable us to position ourselves even more strongly in the growth markets of the Middle East."

Short- and medium-haul segment continues to grow
With passenger growth totalling 7.3% in the months from January to April, the short- and medium-haul segment showed a significant increase on the previous year. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) on scheduled services rose by 9.0%, while scheduled capacity (measured in available seat kilometers or ASK) increased by 6.2%. The resultant improved passenger load factor of 65.8% was above the figure for last year, rising by 1.7 percentage points.

Around 727,000 passengers were carried in April in the short- and medium-haul segment, 6.7% more than in the comparison period in 2007. The traffic result measured in revenue passenger kilometers on scheduled services (RPK) rose disproportionately strongly, by 5.8%, while capacity on these scheduled services (ASK) was expanded by just 3.8%. The passenger load factor in this segment, at 69.0%, was 1.3 percentage points above the comparable 2007 figure.

Long-haul segment sees significant rise in load factor in April
In cumulative terms, around 364,000 scheduled passengers were carried from January to April 2008 in the long-haul segment, a 20.8% reduction on the comparable period in 2007, in line with the company’s restructuring plans. While there was a structural reduction in capacity on scheduled services of 27.7% (ASK), revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) on these same scheduled services fell by 28.5%. The passenger load factor in the long-haul segment was 80.8%.

The load factor increased in April, and at 83.7% was 3.4 percentage points above the figure for the previous year. Scheduled capacity on long-haul routes (ASK) in April 2008 was just 12.8% below the comparable figure for April 2007, with revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) in the long-haul segment 9.1% down on the figure for the previous April.