How is Austrian trying to increase market share in light of mounting competition from LCCs, such as Niki at Vienna?
We are consistently implementing our concept for the restructuring of the company - Austrian Next Generation. It's based on two pillars: reducing costs, and a new, active market strategy.
Our comprehensive cost-reduction measures are bringing our costs down to a competitive level and we have been implementing this strategy across-the-board since the beginning of the summer schedule at the end of March.
We are also developing new services and deploying larger aircraft and more frequencies on key connections. For example, instead of operating a Fokker 100 on our route to Sarajevo, we are flying an A321. Plus, on our Tbilisi service, we have switched from a Fokker 70 to an A319. And to Zurich, we are mixing 737-800s, A319s and A320 to replace our Fokker 100s.
This strategy is working well for us. In June, we were able to increase our overall passenger numbers by 16.5% on the same period last year.
In the European market, this share was even higher, up by 24% to 816,600 passengers in the month of June.
When does Austrian Airlines expect to break-even - and turn a profit?
We are aiming to generate a positive cash flow in 2010 and a positive operative result in 2011.
Austrian has announced plans to optimise the winter schedule with improved connections at Vienna. How does this tie in with the airline's overall network strategy for the hub?
That's an important point. In Vienna we have increased the number of connections we offer or 'hits' by 300. This allows us to strengthen the attractiveness of our hub.
In what ways has consolidation with Lufthansa restructured the network and strengthened its market position?
We are able to coordinate our flight schedule [with Lufthansa] in markets where it makes sense. For example, from October 31, Austrian Airlines plans to begin flights from Vienna to Baghdad on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. From September 30, Lufthansa will fly there four times a week from Munich - on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. By coordinating our services, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa will be able to offer one return flight a day between Europe and Baghdad, with a double daily on Sundays.
Why expand now into Iraq?
Austrian Airlines has been flying to Erbil in North Iraq since December 2006. We have been able to sustainably develop our position in Erbil, with five flights a week from Vienna. With first hand experience in the market, we see further potential here.
Looking ahead, does Austrian's "Focus East" vision still apply?
Yes we remain committed to this strategy and have built up a very strong market position in Central and Eastern Europe, with 42 destinations in the current network. But we are putting a stronger focus on markets with a high passenger volume.
What's involved in the ongoing fleet switch to larger aircraft?
We stopped operating our 50 Seat Canadair Regional Jets in April this year and are gradually reducing our Dash 8-300 fleet and replacing them on specific routes by Dash 8-400s. These include services to Dresden, Leipzig and our evening flights to Florence, Timisoara, Venice, Budapest, and Graz.
For the summer flight plan in 2011, we also plan to expand our narrow-bodies by two A320s.
Will these aircraft be used to add capacity into a market or for new routes?
We plan to use the new aircraft for example on routes to Tel Aviv and Baghdad. This enables us to free up one aircraft for the Mumbai service as of October 31.
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