Austrian Airlines sees E54m 2015 profit, announces 470 new jobs

Austrian Airlines has posted an operating profit (EBIT) of E54m (US$61.1m) in 2015, up from E17m the year prior, the airline stated Thursday. Revenues for the airline increased 3.2% to E2.2b, that it said came from its core business. This comes despite a reduction in the number of passengers of 3%, down to about 10.8m for the year. AUA said this due a planned reduction in capacity in European routes, particularly to Russia and Ukraine. The airline also announced plans to hire 70 more pilots and 400 flight attendants by 2017. AUA CE Kay Kratky said that E1m of every E4m the company earns has come from new routes, with those to North America developing particularly well. In addition, routes to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Havana are to be added in the current year. <br/>