Austrian Airlines (Vienna) improved its turnaround by reporting an operating profit of $27.9 million in the second quarter. The company has issued this financial report:

Austrian Airlines, Austria‘s largest domestic airline, succeeded in significantly improving its earnings in the second quarter of the 2013 financial year to EUR 21 million ($27.9 million) (Q2 2012: EUR 12 million). This strong increase was primarily achieved by cost reduction measures. “The tough restructuring work in the past year is clearly reflected in the performance figures. We are making good progress, and maintain our goal to achieve a turnaround in 2013“, says Jaan Albrecht, Chief Executive Officer of Austrian Airlines.

In the previous year the transfer of flight operations to Tyrolean Airways had considerably increased earnings by EUR 82 million. The subsequent application of the new accounting standard IAS 19 increased these one-off effects by an additional EUR 136 million. For these reason, the operating result in the second quarter declined from the prior-year level of EUR 230 million to EUR 21 million in 2013. However, adjusting business results to take account of the one-off effects, the operating result actually rose by 80.1% or EUR 9 million.

However, the positive Q2 2013 results were not sufficient to generate an overall profit in the first half-year. Nevertheless, the accumulated loss of minus EUR 56 million in the winter quarter from January to March 2013 could be reduced to minus EUR 35 million. In the previous year, the half-year operating result amounted to EUR 163 million, or minus EUR 55 million when adjusting the results for the one-off effects.

First half-year 2013 performance indicators in detail:

Total operating revenues in the first half-year 2013 declined by 3.4 percent to EUR 1,043 million (H1 2012: EUR 1,080 million). The operating result for the first half of 2013 amounted to minus EUR 35 million (H1 2012: 163 million / H1 2012 adjusted: minus EUR 55 million). The main reason for the improved earnings is the success in limiting cost increases. Operating expenditures were reduced by five percent, from EUR 1,135 million to EUR 1,078 million. Capacity utilization of the aircraft also improved.

Fewer aircraft in use, better capacity utilization on board

In the first half of 2013, Austrian Airlines carried a total of 5.3 million passengers. This represents a slight decline of 3 percent from the prior-year level. The underlying reason is that Austria Airlines reduced the number of aircraft in use in its medium-haul fleet by four. In addition, up to two long-haul aircraft were taken out of service in the period January to June 2013, and equipped with the new long haul cabin. Capacity in available seat kilometers (ASK) was reduced by 7.4 percent. At the same time, Austrian Airlines succeeded in improving the passenger load factor to 75.7 percent (H1 2012: 74 percent). Capacity utilization on the new route to Chicago was already at a disproportionately high level in the second quarter of 2013. On balance, Austrian Airlines flew 66,325 flights in the first six months of 2013, or an average of 363 flights per day.

The number of people employed by the Austrian Airlines Group including its fully consolidated subsidiaries totaled 6,244 employees at the reporting date of June 30, 2013 (June 30, 2012: 6,686 employees).

Austrian Airlines continued to achieve a top performance with respect to reliability and punctuality, although the tough, long winter led to a slight deterioration. Its punctuality on departure was 86.6 percent, and punctuality on arrival was at a level of 84.8 percent. Accordingly, the punctuality of Austrian Airlines flights continued to surpass the European average. The regularity of flight operations amounted to 98.6 percent. According to ETB News, Austrian Airlines ranked sixth in the world among all airlines in June 2013 with respect to punctuality (Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/article/145383/the-most-punctual-airline-is).

Facts & figures for Q2 2013 at a glance 

Facts & figures for H1 2013 at a glance

*There were two effects in 2012: a) One-off effects relating to the transfer of flight operations to Tyrolean Airways to the amount of EUR 82 million and b) retroactive adjustment of the prior-year figures to the new accounting standard IAS 19 (“Employee Benefits”) valid starting in the current reporting year totaling EUR 136 million.

Copyright Photo: Karl Cornil/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 OE-LBP (msn 797) in the 1958 retrojet scheme arrives in Brussels.

Austrian Airlines: