EANS-Adhoc: Austrian Airlines AG / Third-Quarter 2009 Business Results of the Austrian Airlines Group: Economic Crisis Negatively Impacts Earnings

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quarterly report

29.10.2009

• Net result for the period amounts to EUR - 242.3m

• Earnings burdened by impairment losses on aircraft and restructuring
provisions totaling EUR 191.6m
• Adjusted EBIT of EUR 24m generated in the third quarter, outperforming
previous year for the first time
• Restructuring measures begin to take hold, but much work remains to be
done

The crisis of the international aviation industry has left its imprint on the

earnings figures of the Austrian Airlines Group in 2009. In the first
three quarters of the year, Austrian Airlines posted a net result for
the period of EUR - 242.3m, compared to EUR -42 m in the first nine
months of 2008. The business results contain extraordinary items with
a major impact on earnings, i.e. impairment losses on aircraft
totaling EUR -76.1m, and restructuring provisions of EUR -115.5m. The
adjusted result from operating activities (EBIT) during the period
January-September 2009 amounted to EUR -64.4m, down from EUR -22.5m
in the comparable period of the previous year. However, Austrian
Airlines posted an improvement in the third quarter, generating an
adjusted EBIT of EUR 24m, outperforming Q3 2008 (EBIT of EUR -0.3m)
and achieving the first positive operating results in the current
financial year.

"The measures being implemented are beginning to take hold. Our
performance figures for the third quarter improved when adjusted for
the extraordinary items," according to the Austrian Airlines
Management Board members Peter Malanik and Andreas Bierwirth:
"However, we should not fool ourselves. The crisis is brutally
manifesting itself. 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."

Austrian Airlines is implementing a comprehensive restructuring
concept entitled "Austrian Next Generation." The concept has three
cornerstones:

1. New market and fleet strategy: Austrian Airlines will remain a network
carrier and maintain its strong position in Eastern Europe. We will
continue to serve our niche markets in Eastern Europe, but will
concentrate more on expanding service to volume markets with high
passenger traffic. We want to gain additional market share in these volume
markets in Western and Eastern Europe by offering high quality service at
attractive prices. In order to achieve this, it will be essential to
significantly reduce our unit costs. This will be achieved by deploying
larger aircraft, making adjustments to our route network and increasing
the number of seats in our aircraft.
2. Cost reductions: We will increase our overall competitiveness by massively
cutting costs. We will create new processes and streamline the company.
The total workforce will be cut from 7,500 full-time employees down to a
level approaching 6,000 people by the end of 2010. We will also reduce
prices charged by our suppliers. We are implementing the EUR 150m package
of measures as the basis for pruning personnel expenses. Moreover, we will
negotiate with the Works Council to reform collective wage agreements in
order to raise productivity.
3. Synergies with Lufthansa: We will work with affiliated companies of the
Lufthansa Group to exploit synergies. For example, we will merge our sales
offices abroad with those of Lufthansa. We are also developing a similar
concept for our ground operations. We will take advantage of Lufthansa´s
sales tool and work closely with its procurement teams to increase our
purchasing power.

Austrian Airlines aims to achieve a positive cash flow in 2010. In
the upcoming years we also want to generate a positive EBIT and thus
be in a position to earn the funds required to finance our capital
expenditures.

"Developments over the past few months demonstrate that we are on the
right path, but we must continue to work determinedly. We have a good
chance to achieve our goals if we consistently implement our
concept," say Management Board members Bierwirth and Malanik.

Earnings figures at a glance:

|EURm |1-9/2009 |1-9/2008 |+/- % |7-9/2009 |7-9/2008 |+/- %
|Revenue |1,492.30 |1,891.90 |-21.1 |557.7 |697.2 |-20
|Operating revenue |1,573.40 |1,941.00 |-18.9 |604.1 |714.8 |-15.5
|Operating expenses |1,798.80 |1,983.00 |-9.3 |667.9 |726.9 |-8.1
|EBITDAR ¹ ² |56.4 |204.8 |-72.5 |6.5 |71.2 |-
|EBITDAR ¹ ²
|adjusted ³ |141.3 |224.3 |-37 |92.5 |83 |11.4
|Result from
|operating activities
|(EBIT)² |-225.4 |-42 |- |-63.8 |-12.1 |-
|Result from
|operating activities
|(EBIT)² adjusted³ |-64.4 |-22.5 |- |24 |-0.3 |-
|Financial result |-30 |-24.9 |-20.5 |-15.4 |-6.1 |-
|Result before tax |-254.6 |-56.7 |- |-77.4 |-16.4 |-
|Net result for the
|period |-242.3 |-65.1 |- |-75.7 |-16.4 |-

1 Results from operating activities (EBIT) before associates,
depreciation and rentals. 2 The expected income from plan assets was
reclassified from personnel expenses to financial expenses. 3
Adjusted by the result from the disposal of assets, other costs
related to the transfer of aircraft, foreign currency valuations at
the reporting date as well as impairment losses on the value of
aircraft.

The detailed Austrian Airlines Group quarterly report
(January-September 2009) is available on our Website at:
http://www.austrianairlines.co.at/eng/Investor/reports/default.htm

Owner, editor, distributor: Austrian Airlines AG, Corporate
Communications, public.relations@austrian.com. Further information
concerning the disclosure pursuant to § 24 and § 25 Media Act is
available at www.austrian.com.

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ots Originaltext: Austrian Airlines
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Austrian Airlines AG

Corporate Communications:

Martin Hehemann

Tel.: 05 1766-11231

Investor Relations:

Thomas Krammer

Tel.: 051766-13311

Branche: Air Transport
ISIN: AT0000620158
WKN: 875224
Index: WBI, Prime.market
Börsen: Wien / official market