Traffic results of Austrian Airlines for June 2015: Further shift from European to intercontinental flight traffic

The traffic results in the month of June 2015 reflect the ongoing consolidation strategy of Austrian Airlines: European flight traffic declined due to weak demand in Eastern Europe, particularly Russia and the Ukraine, though the drop is not as pronounced as in previous months. In contrast, intercontinental flights enjoyed increasing popularity, in spite of the crisis in the Middle East. Whereas European flight traffic fell by 1.4 percent in June 2015 to 908,000 passengers, intercontinental passenger volume was up 5.8 percent to 159,000 passengers (see chart).“We believe flight traffic in Europe will be somewhat subdued in the coming months”, says Andreas Otto, Chief Commercial Officer of Austrian Airlines. “In contrast, long-haul flight traffic is developing very satisfactorily. Here we see further potential for growth in spite of the crisis in the Middle East. The new connection to Miami will help us attract even more passengers. Bookings have already exceeded our expectations“.

In the month of June 2015, Austrian Airlines carried a total of 1.1 million passengers, comprising a decrease of about 0.4 percent from the prior-year month. The flight offering measured in available seat kilometers (ASK) rose by 5.2 percent, mainly as a result of North Atlantic flights. Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) were up by 3.5 percent, demonstrating the enhanced focus of Austrian Airlines on increasing profitability. Capacity utilization of the flights (passenger load factor) in June 2015 was 79.7 percent on average, or 1.3 percentage points lower than in June 2014.

Key indicators for the first half of 2015 show the following overall picture: on balance, the flight offering in available seat kilometers climbed slightly by 0.1 percent whereas revenue passenger kilometers fell by 3.2 percent. Total passenger volume was close to 5.0 million, comprising a drop of 7.3 percent from the previous year. Capacity utilization declined by 2.5 percentage points to 75 percent in the first six months of 2015. Given the rising overcapacity on the routes in the Gulf region, the load factor continues to decline in these markets.

Traffic statistics in detail