Austrian Airlines (AUA), owned by Lufthansa, reported a near four-fold rise in losses in the first nine months of the year on Thursday, saying the crisis was brutal in exposing its weaknesses. The airline, which has been bought by Lufthansa of Germany, flew deeper into loss in the third quarter.
AUA reported a net loss of 242.3 million euros (357.1 million dollars) in the period from January to September, from a loss of 65.1 million euros in the same period of last year. AUA blamed the economic crisis and restructuring costs. In the first three quarters of this year, operating results showed a loss of 225.4 million euros from a loss of 42 million euros in January-September 2008. Austrian Airlines also saw a drop in sales income to 1.492 billion euros so far this year, from 1.891 billion euros in the same period of last year.
"The measures being implemented are beginning to take hold. However, we should not fool ourselves. The crisis is brutally manifesting itself," AUA co-chairmen Peter Malanik and Andreas Bierwirth said in a statement. "The earnings figures relentlessly show our weaknesses. They demonstrate that we still have a lot of work ahead of us in order to be able to successfully restructure the company and make it profitable."
These restructuring efforts include greater focus on routes with high passenger numbers and merging certain operations with Lufthansa, but also about 1,500 job cuts by the end of 2010. "Developments over the past few months demonstrate that we are on the right path, but we must continue to work determinedly," noted Bierwirth and Malanik. Austrian Airlines was aiming for a positive cash flow in 2010, the company said.
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