Sixty years after its arrival in Paris, and ten years after it became part of the Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines is back in the black. The airline's indicators have been in the green since 2017, and its management is now determined to prepare for the future. Several representatives of the Austrian carrier and the Lufthansa group met the French media at noon on Monday, as part of a meeting with the airline's management. "Café de Vienne in the colours of Austrian Airlines.
Although the Austrian company has kept a relatively low profile on the French market, it has nonetheless had a long-standing presence in France for six decades. Paris CDGin addition to services to Lyon and Nice. " It's been pointed out to me that we haven't been out to meet the French market for some time... It's true, and it's not specific to France: we've been busy restructuring our business. And it worked out quite well" said Peter Nikolai Thier, Head of Communications at Austrian Airlines, in a humorous interview with journalists.
French travellers don't seem to hold this against the Austrian carrier, and fill the four daily flights offered from Roissy - plus a fifth code-shared with Air France - an inter-alliance 'anomaly' which can be explained by the historic nature of the route. The occupancy rate even rose slightly last year (+1.5%) on this route. Paris-Viennedespite the arrival of a new competitor: Level. In addition to point-to-point traffic between the two capitals, for both business and leisure travel, the French public is delighted with the window to the East opened by Austrian Airlines: Albania, Bulgaria, Russia, and beyond to the major Asian hubs, such as Bangkokpending the company's return to Tokyo next April. All this, of course, via ViennaThis is a booming platform, where the predominance of the regional stage is regularly challenged.
Defending our Vienna hub
In fact, the Austrian capital has become 'the place to fly' in recent months, and has even established itself as one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. one of main hubs in Europe for companies low-costs. The draughts generated by Nikki's disappearance and theacquisition of Laudamotion by Ryanairthe rise of easyJet and the new arrival Levelcould have undermined Austrian Airlines' dominant position.
For the time being, however, the airline has preserved the essentials, if the 2018 figures are to be believed: the airline claims around 48% of passengers at Vienna airport, a market share equivalent to the previous financial year. In publishing its 2018 results a few days ago, the hub's management confirmed the trend: " The main growth drivers at Vienna Airport were Austrian Airlinesfollowed by Laudamotion and easyJet. Overall, the low-cost offer has developed strongly, thanks in particular to the opening of three new bases by Wizz Air, Laudamotion and LEVEL." the report states.
Faced with this influx, Austrian has adjusted its roadmap slightly: " A lot of airlines discovered Vienna airport last year, as if it had just appeared on the map for many low-costs... So we reviewed our strategy and decided that the priority would be to defend our Vienna hub for the next three years" says Peter Nikolai Thier of Austrian Airlines, who adds on the airline's "to-do list": " stabilise our growth and improve our profitability to be able to buy large, attractive long-haul aircraft" .
Austrian Airlines and Vienna Airport: key figures
- 130 destinations worldwide
- 35 destinations in Central and Eastern Europe
- 48.4% passenger market share at Vienna airport
- 395 flights a day
- Vienna airport catchment area: 23.4 million inhabitants less than 3 hours' drive away
