Austrian reports growth in East Europe market

Despite the wider slowdown in the aviation industry Austrian has achieved a significant growth of 11.2% in the number of passengers carried in the Focus East regions. This increase virtually offsets the planned reduction in passenger volume of 12% on long-haul flights.

By carrying an approximate total of 6.3 million passengers (scheduled and charter), the Austrian Airlines Group produced an overall increase of 1.2% in the period January to July 2008.

Between January and July the company reported a significant year-on-year increase of 4.9% in passenger volume in the short and medium-haul segment. Revenue Passenger Kilometres on scheduled services rose disproportionately strongly by 6.7%, the majority of which can be ascribed to the Focus East region, which grew by 13.4%. New routes introduced into the network including Baia Mare in Romania and Sochi and Nizhniy Novgorod in Russia increased scheduled capacity by 5.1%.

The overall result underpins the network direction of the Austrian Airlines Group and the Focus East strategy.