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10. 02. 12. - 20:00

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10. 02. 12. - 20:00

More passengers and austerity aim at AUA

Austrian Airlines (AUA) had significantly more customers in January than in the same month of 2011.

The airline announced yesterday (Thurs) that it welcomed 737,400 passengers last month, up by 7.1 per cent compared to January 2011. These figures mean a continuation of the carrier’s growth at least as far as customer figures are concerned since it counted 11.26 million passengers last year, 3.4 per cent more than in 2010.

AUA, which has around 5,800 full-time employees, suffered a loss of almost 65 million Euros in 2011. The firm lost around the same amount the year before. Nearly one billion Euros have been lost by the airline - which was taken over by Germany's Lufthansa in 2009 - in the past 10 years. Swiss and Germanwings are also part of the European aviation powerhouse. The whole Lufthansa Group registered 6.98 million passengers last month, 3.9 per cent more than in January 2011.

News about rising passenger figures is unlikely to create a U-turn on AUA’s cost reduction course. CEO Jaan Albrecht upset the firm’s works council by disclosing plans for a new savings package last month. "The aviation industry is going through changes. AUA must evolve too," the ex-Star Alliance head said. A few weeks earlier, Lufthansa chiefs warned that AUA must become more efficient.

Albrecht, who has headed AUA since November, criticised that the carrier’s personnel costs were as high as three years ago despite a reduction of the number of staff of 1,500. Hundreds of AUA employees recently gathered at Vienna International Airport (VIA or VIE) to discuss how to react to a new series of pay freezes and other austerity measures. Unionist refused to rule out strikes after the assembly.

The assignment of Albrecht followed Thierry Antinori’s refusal to take over at AUA. The Frenchman, now on the payroll of AUA rival Emirates, made his decision public only a few days before he was due to take over. Lufthansa’s decision to hire Albrecht sparked speculations that Andreas Bierwirth may leave AUA. However, Bierwirth decided to stay on board. The Vienna-based carrier’s three-member executive board is completed by Peter Malanik.

Almost 51 per cent of all departures and arrivals at VIA are operated by AUA and its affiliates. Albrecht said he wanted the aerodrome to lower the fees it heaved on his airline. The AUA chief said such a step would be of immense help on the aviation firm’s way to recovery. Bosses of Flughafen Wien AG (FW), the company which manages VIA, declared their willingness to hold talks about a possible cutback of charges – but underlined that not just AUA but all of the 80 airlines which were currently doing business at VIA would benefit.

VIA is Austria’s busiest aerodrome and an important starting point and hub for connecting flights to destinations in Eastern Europe (EE). More than 21.1 million passengers were registered at VIA last year (2010: 19.7 million). Budget carrier FlyNiki is VIA’s second-most important partner among airlines after AUA. The company, which is owned by Air Berlin, said yesterday it had 179,600 passengers last month – which is a decrease of 10 per cent compared to January 2011.

Austrian Times

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