Austrian Airlines: Downward Trend In Passengers Leveling Out

Austrian Airlines AG (AUA.VI) said Wednesday its November passenger figures indicate the steady decline noted over the past year is gradually coming to an end, as passenger growth on Western European flights for the month only just failed to offset continued long-haul and charter losses.

Austrian Air, the recently acquired unit of Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE), carried 741,200 passengers in November, or 2.2% less than the year-earlier November.

"The downward trend in passenger volume is slowly leveling out. The economic framework conditions remain extremely difficult, however, because yields are still coming under strong pressure," Austrian Air's co-chief executives Peter Malanik and Andreas Bierwirth said in a statement.

In the first 11 months of 2009 accumulated, Austrian Air lost 11% of its passengers and carried a total of 1.93 million persons to, or from Vienna.

In November, most notably, the short- and medium haul segment's Western European flights booked a 5.4% increase in passengers, while the Eastern European flights shed 8% of their passengers on the year. The long-haul segment noted a 14% decline in passengers and the charter segment of 18%, due mainly to significant capacity reductions in both segments, Austrian Air said.

Company Web site: www.austrian.com

-By Flemming E. Hansen, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]