Austrian Airlines beats nine-month profit forecasts

Airline Industry Information, Nov 4, 2004

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Austrian Airlines has announced a higher than expected operating profit for the first nine months of 2004 thanks to rising passenger traffic.

The airline said on 4 November 2004 that its earnings before tax and interest rose to EUR39.7m in the nine months to 30 September 2004, up from a loss of EUR7.5m twelve months earlier. A spokesperson for Austrian Airlines said that it was still optimistic that it could reach its full-year target of a EUR50m profit despite high fuel costs.

Austrian Airlines warned however that for it to reach its full-year target demand would have to stay at the level seen over the past nine months and that fuel costs could still play a part in the fourth quarter. Passenger traffic for the airline was up 13.6% in January-September 2004 compared to the first nine months of 2003, reports Reuters.

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