Traffic results for 2019: Third passenger record in a row for Austrian Airlines

• About 14.7 million passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in 2019, rise of 5.1 percent
• With 80.8 percent highest capacity utilization in company history
• Regularity and punctuality improved considerably in 2019

With about 14.7 million passengers in 2019, Austrian Airlines succeeded in setting a third passenger record in a row. This performance surpasses the previous all-time high of 2018 by about 800,000 passengers, comprising a year-on-year rise of 5.1 percent. The flight offering was up 2.9 percent. Revenue passenger kilometres climbed 4.9 percent. As a result, capacity utilization of the flights equalled 80.8 percent, an increase of 1.6 percentage points and a new record as well.

“In over 60 years of company history, our planes have never been as full as in 2019 – and this despite strong competition in Vienna”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Andreas Otto. “At the same time, the past year was challenging in terms of earnings. We will continue to work hard to strengthen our company. Austria needs a strong hub provider like us who can fly both short- and long-haul routes.”

The number of flights operated by Austrian Airlines was up 2.9 percent in the year 2019 to 139,230. In spite of the denser flight program, Austrian Airlines was able to improve its operational stability considerably. The number of punctual departures rose by about 10.8 percentage points to 76.6 percent. Over 99 percent of all scheduled flights were also operated. This is an increase of 1.1 percentage points compared to 2018.

About 990,000 passengers flew with Austrian Airlines in the month of December 2019, corresponding to a 4.4 percent increase from the prior-year month. The flight offering was up 3.2 percent. Revenue passenger kilometres rose by 6.9 percent. Capacity utilization amounted to 77.8 percent, representing an increase of 2.7 percentage points compared to the prior-year month. The number of flights operated in December 2019 climbed 0.9 percent to 9,869.

Lufthansa Group

In line with evolving market practices, Lufthansa Group and thus also Austrian Airlines will no longer disclose monthly traffic data from January 2020. Traffic data will be reported as part of the quarterly results releases instead.