Although the number of passengers increased, it amounted to only a third of the last year before the crisis. After all, the latest bookings give hope for good summer business, the largest Austrian airline announced on Thursday.
According to Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl, there were 500,000 bookings in the last fortnight. This proves that people want to travel again. The focus of the bookings is in the private travel segment. According to the AUA, precise data for the period since Russia invaded Ukraine is not yet available, but there are no signs of a significant slump. “As Austria’s home airline, it is our mission to connect people and economies, even in difficult times. The situation in Ukraine, which causes a lot of suffering and great uncertainty for the world population, makes us all the more concerned,” said Trestl, COO and head of the crisis team Francesco Sciortino.
The loss (adjusted EBIT) of the airline amounted to 264 million euros in the previous year, which was at least 55 million euros better than in the previous year. “Lockdowns, travel restrictions and new virus variants are reflected in our results from last year,” said Trestl. The financial situation improved over the course of the year. Three quarters of sales were generated in the second half of the year. In the third quarter of the year, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis, a quarter was back in the black with two million euros. Thanks to a good Christmas season, the fourth quarter was also much better than 2020.
So far, AUA has repaid a fifth, i.e. EUR 60 million, of the EUR 300 million in state-backed loans. According to the broadcast, Austrian Airlines is thus fulfilling its responsibility towards Austrian taxpayers. Sales rose from 460 to 743 million euros in 2021, but were still a third of the pre-crisis level of 2.1 billion euros. The same picture can be seen in the number of passengers, which increased from 3.1 to 5 million, which was only a third of the pre-crisis level of 14.7 million. Despite lower production, AUA’s liquidity remains well above plan. At 61.9 percent, occupancy for the year as a whole was identical to that of 2020 and 18.9 percentage points lower than in 2019 (80.8 percent).
Source: Nachrichten
