Summer brought some changes to Austrian Airlines in the light of the European Commission's clearance for Lufthansa's takeover bid, which materialised a few months later.
When it comes to acquisition, the first question is its impact on the company subject to the takeover.

In this case we're referring to three companies operating under the umbrella of the Lufthansa Group: Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines.

"Each of these companies will keep its brand and individual market position," Dimitar Dimitrov, Austrian Airlines’ Regional Manager for Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro and Kosovo, said.  "However, the three companies will adopt a joint sales approach."

"The goal is to offer our customers all the benefits from the three companies' further harmonised network by combining flights, prices and schedules, thus more competitive offers and flexibility."     

The joint sales approach is to help guide the three companies - and Austrian Airlines in particular - through the turbulent ongoing economic crisis which, according to Dimitrov, will last some time.

At the start of the year, everybody, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), expected the negative trend in consumer demand for air transport services to improve. "Unfortunately, after July, the prognosis changed and IATA’s expectations for air carriers’ losses in 2009 keep growing," Dimitrov said.

The main reasons are well known – less demand and ever growing fuel prices. "On a global scale, IATA revised its expectations and now we are talking of expected industry losses of more than $3 billion," he said.

According to the International Air Carrier Association, intense competition and low demand have reduced prices so much that companies find it difficult to be efficient even with the high density of flights they had in the spring and summer of 2009.

"Here we're not talking about making a profit but merely of survival," Dimitrov said. This applies to all companies in the sector, many of which started cutting costs and staff. "The truth is that all these measures still cannot help companies be economically efficient," he said. On another level, travel expenses are one of the first outgoings that all companies crack down on to cut costs.

This has had a big impact on air travel. "These negative trends hit central Europe and the western and central Balkans later than other places," Dimitrov said. Such an example is in western Balkan countries where the so-called emigrant traffic helped ease the blow. "These countries have big communities worldwide and this traffic intensifies in the summer. So, in a way, the negative trend was softened by this summer traffic but now when it is over the trend is back again."

Given such a grim scenario, the question is how long will the negative trend last. "Although I want to be optimistic I don’t expect considerable improvement this year. I hope that in the first quarter of 2010 things will start to change," Dimitrov said.

Despite all these difficulties Dimitrov is certain that Austrian Airlines is keen to retain its position as one of the leading carriers in the Balkans when it comes to flights to and from Vienna and the possibilities it provides for flight connections with the rest of the world. In Bulgaria alone the company currently offers five Vienna-Sofia flights a day (excluding Saturday) with one additional daily flight planned from April 2010.

"This flight will give travellers the opportunity to be in every European capital for the start of the business day and come back later the same day as it will leave Sofia at about 5-5.30am and will return late at night. "As someone who travels a lot, I can tell you that there is nothing better than sleeping in your own bed at the end of the day," Dimitrov said.

Austrian Airlines also operates eight flights a week between Vienna and the Black Sea city of Varna which include two code-share flights with Bulgaria Air.
Bulgarian Black Sea destinations became popular over the past six years because of the real estate and tourism boom in Bulgaria, hence many companies launched flights to and from Varna and Bourgas.

"Unfortunately, because of economic developments, we had to stop the Vienna-Bourgas flight this summer but we still operate the Varna-Vienna route because we consider Varna a stable destination and we are happy with it," Dimitrov said.