The pandemic has continued to have a drastic effect on Austrian Airlines' corporate results. At the end of the second quarter of 2021, the airline offered only 55% of its pre-crisis capacity and therefore generated an adjusted loss before interest and taxes (adjusted EBIT) of €95 million. Adjusted EBIT for the first half of the year was a loss of €201 million compared to a €235 million loss in the same period of the previous year. Compared to the first half of 2020, the number of passengers fell by 44% to just under 1.1 million - compared with 2019 this accounts for a decrease of 83 percent.
“Virus variants, the travel restrictions often associated with them, and low demand for long-distance and business travel are clearly slowing down the recovery of the aviation industry. The increasing number of bookings in summer gives us some breathing space, but the crisis does not allow us to breathe a sigh of relief,” says Austrian Airlines CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech on the presentation of the company figures for the first half of 2021.
In the second quarter of 2021, Austrian Airlines' revenue was €126 million, 260% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year. Compared to the second quarter of 2019, however, the decline in revenue was 79%. At €136 million euros, the total operating revenue was 131% higher compared to the previous year. The ramp-up of flight operations at the beginning of summer led to total expenses of €231 million, 46% higher than in the same quarter of the previous year.
In the first half of 2021, the total revenue fell by 45% to 201 million or by 80% compared to the first half of 2019, while operating expenses in the same period were reduced by 33% to €402 million. The adjusted EBIT in the first half of the 2021 financial year was a loss of €201 million, which was 14% higher than the first half of 2020, but 279% lower than in the first half of 2019.
Due to strict travel restrictions and a low number of flights at the beginning of the year, the number of passengers fell in the first half of the year by 44% to 1.1 million, with available seat kilometers of €2.9bn – 37% below those of the same period of the previous year. The domestic airline's flights were booked at a capacity of 53.1% in the first half of 2021. Austrian’s fleet was reduced to 73 aircraft from 85 in the first half of 2020, with the retirement of the Dash aircraft making up a large part of the phased out planes.