EANS-News: Flughafen Wien in 2014: Passenger record of 22.5 million (+2.2%) despite a difficult market environment - outlook for 2015: Further growth if crises in trouble spots do not escalate

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Earnings Forecast/Traffic Results 2014 /Outlook 2015

Flughafen Wien in 2014: Passenger record of 22.5 million (+2.2%)
despite a difficult market environment - outlook for 2015: Further
growth if crises in trouble spots do not escalate

* 22.5 million passengers (+2.2%) at Vienna Airport in 2014 *
Forecast for 2015: Passenger development of 0% to +2% depending on
development of trouble spots * Financial guidance for 2015:
Increased revenue, EBITDA and net profit expected despite cautious
passenger forecasts * Tax reform in 2015: Abolish the ticket tax
which impedes growth and thus create new jobs

New record number of 22.5 million passengers: The year 2014 developed
well for Vienna Airport in spite of crisis and strike-related
challenges. Three new long- haul routes, six new airlines and
expanded frequencies and destinations drove passenger growth up by
2.2% to 22.5 million passengers. Following the expected first quarter
2015 decline in the number of passengers Flughafen Wien AG expects
total passenger volume to develop in the range of 0% and +2% in 2015
against the backdrop of a persistently difficult market environment,
accompanied by an increase in its revenue, EBITDA and net profit.

Successful traffic year 2014

"Attracting new airline customers and flight offerings for the Vienna
hub is our clear strategic objective. Together with our partners, we
generated good results in 2014, especially with respect to long-haul
routes and new destinations. A great deal was also achieved in
improving service quality. We already implemented more than 120
individual measures, and the newly designed Pier West represents a
new benchmark at Vienna Airport", explains Julian Jäger, Member of
the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG. "However, the crisis
situations in Russia and the Ukraine as well as in the Middle East,
along with strike-related flight cancellations and the generally
restrained economic climate had perceptible effects on Vienna
Airport. For these reasons we anticipate a drop in passenger volume
in the first quarter of 2015 but a slightly positive passenger
development between 0% and +2% for the entire year 2015", he adds.

Flughafen Wien calls for abolishment of ticket tax

"Flughafen Wien AG also felt the consequences of global political and
aviation- specific developments. Nevertheless, the year 2014 was very
successful for the airport. We will achieve the designated financial
targets for 2014 by consistently pursuing our strategy to reduce
costs and enhance productivity. In spite of cautious passenger
forecasts, we anticipate clearly positive results reflected in a
consolidated net profit of at least EUR 85 million and an EBITDA
exceeding EUR 250 million in 2015. Net debt should be further reduced
to fall below the level of EUR 500 million", states Günther Ofner,
Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG. "The
transformation of the airport into an Airport City is continuing. Now
the flight hub is directly accessible via long-distance trains and
the new hotel project has entered the planning phase. In particular,
the ticket tax which serves as an impediment to growth should be
abolished within the context of the upcoming tax reform. This would
quickly create about 3,000 additional jobs, without the government
losing any tax revenues on balance", Ofner concludes.

2014: About 22.5 million passengers at Vienna Airport (+2.2%)

2014 was once again a successful traffic year for Vienna Airport
following the slight decline in total passenger volume in 2013.
Vienna Airport reported 22,483,158 passengers in the year 2014, a
rise of 2.2% from the previous year. In particular, passenger
development was positively impacted by the new long- haul routes, new
flight connections and expanded frequencies of the airlines. In
contrast, the crisis situations in Russia, the Ukraine and the Middle
East as well as the unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations and
strike-related flight cancellations in Europe negatively affected
airport operations. In terms of traffic development, local flight
traffic was the growth driver, rising by 4.6%, whereas the number of
transfer passengers fell by 3.9%. The number of flight movements
(starts and landings) stagnated slightly at minus 0.2%, whereas
capacity utilization of the aircraft (seat load factor) was up by 0.2
percentage points to 75.0%. Cargo volume (air cargo and trucking)
developed very well, rising by 8.3% to 277,532 tonnes.

Strong increase in air traffic to North America, growth to Western
European destinations

Passenger traffic to North America showed a strong growth of 27.8% in
a year-on- year comparison, which is mainly due to Austrian Airlines'
addition of Newark as a flight destination and the increase in the
number of its flights to Chicago. Traffic to Western Europe also
developed well, with the total number of passengers up 3.0%. Vienna
Airport also showed an increase of 3.1% in passenger traffic to the
Middle East. However, the crisis situation in Russia and the Ukraine
negatively impacted traffic to Eastern Europe, which was down by
6.5%.

Top destinations in 2014: Western Europe - Frankfurt, Eastern Europe
- Moscow, Long-haul routes - Bangkok

The highest number of passengers flying from Vienna Airport to
Western European destinations was registered by Frankfurt with
680,895 passengers, followed by Zurich with 476,290 and London with
461,630. Moscow was the most popular destination in Eastern Europe,
attracting 329,513 passengers, ahead of Bucharest with 201,929 and
Sofia with 162,265. Dubai was the top destination in the Middle East
with 232,128 passengers, followed by Tel Aviv with 157,155 and Doha
with 48,069 travelers. Bangkok was the most popular long-haul route,
registering 115,726 passengers from Vienna, followed by New York with
86,284 and Tokyo with 73,715.

Austrian Airlines Group accounts for the largest share of passengers

A ranking of the airlines by the number of passengers flying to/from
Vienna Airport shows the Austrian Airlines Group in the number one
spot, with 47.7% of passenger volume, followed by NIKI with 11.0%,
airberlin with 6.2% and Lufthansa with a 4.8% share. The top ten
airlines at Vienna Airport also include germanwings with 3.2% of
total passenger volume, Turkish Airlines with a 2.2% share, British
Airways with 1.8%, SWISS with 1.7%, Emirates with 1.6% and KLM with
1.4% of all passengers. In this ranking, Vueling, TAP Portugal and
Alitalia were the airlines recording the strongest growth in the
number of passengers carried. The average seat occupancy rose from
74.8% in 2013 to 75.0% in 2014. Vienna Airport was regularly served
by 70 airlines in 2014, travelling to a total of 172 destinations in
71 countries.

Strong growth in air cargo: cargo volume up 8.3%

The cargo business at Vienna Airport developed well in 2014. Total
cargo volume (incl. trucking) climbed by 8.3% to 277,532 tonnes. Air
cargo increased by 10.6% to 197,761 tonnes, whereas trucking was up
3.1% to 79,771 tonnes.

Predicted passenger development, financial guidance for 2015

Following the expected decline in the number of passengers in the
first quarter of 2015, Flughafen Wien AG anticipates a slightly
positive passenger development in the range of 0% to +2% for 2015 as
a whole. The development of flight movements will also rise
marginally between 0% and +1% range. From today's perspective,
impetus to growth will be provided by the launch of flight services
to Mauritius (MU) and frequency increases to Newark (US) and Athens
(GR) by Austrian Airlines, new destinations added by NIKI, namely
Catania (IT), Alicante (ES), Athens (GR), Paphos (CY) as well as an
increase in the number of flights it operates to Zurich (CH), as well
as new routes and expanded flight service on the part of EasyJet,
Vueling, TUIFly, Estonian Air, Aegean, SunExpress, Pegasus Airlines,
Montenegro Airlines and Air Moldova.

Against this backdrop, the Management Board of Flughafen Wien is
fundamentally optimistic with respect to its business outlook for the
year 2015. It aims to generate increased revenue of more than EUR 645
million, and raise EBITDA to more than EUR 250 million. From today's
point of view, the consolidated net profit after tax should reach a
level of at least EUR 85 million. Net debt should be further reduced
to fall below EUR 500 million. Investments are expected to amount to
about EUR 95 million in 2015.

Traffic development in 2014

2014: in % vs. 2013
Passengers (total) 22,483,158 + 2.2%
Thereof
Local passengers 15,873,386 + 4.6%
Transfer passengers 6,531,198 - 3.9%
Flight movements 230,781 - 0.2%
MTOW in tonnes 8,179,391 + 3.4%
Air cargo and trucking in 277,532 + 8.3%
tonnes
Air cargo in tonnes 197,761 + 10.6%
Trucking in tonnes 79,771 + 3.1%

Regions Passengers* in % vs. 2013
Europe 9,786,991 + 0.9%
Thereof
Eastern Europe 2,025,666 - 6.5%
Western Europe 7,761,325 + 3.0%
Schengen 7,005,223 + 2.6%
EU 7,369,070 + 3.0%
Far East 408,707 + 12.5%
Middle East 538,923 + 3.1%
North America 298,630 + 27.8%
Africa 167,341 + 6.4%
South America 12,024 + 9.5%

Top destinations per region

Destination Passengers* in % vs.2013
Eastern Europe Moscow 329,513 - 10.9%
Western Europe Frankfurt 680,895 + 3.3%
Middle East Dubai 232,128 + 4.2%
Long-haul Bangkok 115,726 + 1.6%

Traffic forecast for 2015

Passenger development 0% to + 2%
Flight movements 0% to + 1%

Financial guidance for 2015

Revenue > EUR 645 million
EBITDA > EUR 250 million
Consolidated net profit >= EUR 85 million
Net debt <= EUR 500 million
CAPEX ~EUR 95 million

*Departing passengers

Further inquiry note:
Investor Relations:
Mag. Judit Helenyi (+43-1)7007-23126; j.helenyi@viennaairport.com
Mario Santi (+43-1)7007-22826; m.santi@viennaairport.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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company: Flughafen Wien AG
Postfach 1
A-1300 Wien-Flughafen
phone: +43 1 7007 - 22826
FAX: +43 1 7007 - 23806
mail: investor-relations@viennaairport.com
WWW: http://viennaairport.com/unternehmen/investor_relations
sector: Transport
ISIN: AT0000911805
indexes: ATX Prime, ATX
stockmarkets: official market: Wien
language: English