20.01.2015 – 08:02

Flughafen Wien AG

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
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mail:         investor-relations@viennaairport.com
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