- Austrian Airlines delivered strong performance during the summer season, driven by robust demand, reliability, and high service quality
- 4.9 million passengers travelled on Austrian Airlines’ global route network in the third quarter
- Despite strong operational performance and high customer satisfaction, achieving sustainable profitability in the Austrian market remains challenging
- Adjusted EBIT for January to September was 37 percent below the previous year’s level
- Annette Mann, CEO of Austrian Airlines: “The financial results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are highly capable of delivering strong performance even under challenging conditions. However, one thing remains unchanged: the structural burdens of the Austrian business environment leave very little room for sustainable long-term planning.”
Austrian Airlines delivered a strong summer travel season and consequently reported a strong third quarter in 2026. Despite higher ticket prices driven by increased jet fuel costs, demand for air travel remained robust. In total, Austria’s flag carrier transported 4.9 million passengers across its global route network in the third quarter, an increase of three percent year-on-year, thereby making an important contribution to Austria’s international connectivity, both in leisure travel and in business and transfer traffic via the Vienna hub. Revenue and adjusted EBIT also improved between July and September compared to the summer of 2025. “This demonstrates that our flexibility and the extensive measures we implemented following the outbreak of the war in Iran have paid off. We successfully kept our internal costs under control and redirected capacity originally planned for the Middle East to leisure destinations across Europe, including Nice, Mallorca, and Barcelona. These routes were very well received by our guests”, said Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann.
The airline once again demonstrated outstanding operational performance. Both departure and arrival punctuality improved in the third quarter by 2.8 and 2.5 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous year. In September 2026, Austrian Airlines was even ranked the most punctual airline in Europe. The flight schedule was operated as planned in 99.2 percent of cases. In addition, Austria’s flag carrier once again received multiple prestigious Skytrax Awards. Austrian Airlines was named both “Best Cabin Crew in Europe” and “Best Cabin Crew in Western Europe.” This makes Austrian Airlines the only European airline among the world’s top 20 cabin crews. To top it off, the airline also secured second place in the “Best Airline Staff in Europe” category. “These achievements clearly demonstrate how important stability and punctuality are to our customers. Every day, all Austrian Airlines employees work with great professionalism, excellent coordination, and tremendous passion to deliver this performance, especially during the busy summer travel season”, emphasized Austrian Airlines COO Stefan-Kenan Scheib.
Location Conditions Remain Critical for Fleet and Network Development
The conditions at Austria’s aviation hub continue to be challenging. A strong summer season alone cannot offset difficult structural conditions, as the figures for the period from January to September clearly demonstrate. During the first nine months of the year, Austrian Airlines generated an adjusted EBIT of EUR 48 million, representing a 37 percent decline year-on-year. “The financial results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are highly capable of delivering strong performance even under challenging conditions. However, one thing remains unchanged: the structural burdens of the Austrian business environment leave very little room for sustainable long-term planning”, said Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann.
Against the backdrop of persistently high fuel costs, several routes, particularly ultra-short-haul connections, continue to face economic scrutiny. At the end of the summer schedule, Austrian Airlines discontinued the Vienna-Graz route and has, to date, reduced capacity in its 2026/27 winter schedule by a total of five percent compared to the previous year. In addition, the availability of new aircraft remains extremely limited worldwide. Manufacturers Boeing and Airbus are, in some cases, years behind schedule with deliveries. Consequently, competition for new aircraft allocations is intense, including within the Lufthansa Group. Replacement and growth investments are being directed to locations that offer the strongest long-term economic prospects. The ongoing discussions with the Austrian government regarding the future competitiveness of the aviation sector are therefore a key building block for advancing the necessary renewal of Austrian Airlines’ long-haul fleet.
The economic significance of a network airline for a national hub is highlighted by a study conducted by the Economica Institute for Economic Research: one million additional passengers at Vienna Airport generate approximately EUR 75 million in annual added value and create around 1,000 jobs within the industry. Added to this is Austrian Airlines’ direct employment impact: each long-haul aircraft supports approximately 350 jobs within the company.
A weakened Vienna hub would therefore have far-reaching consequences for the competitiveness of Austria’s economy as a whole.
Nevertheless, Annette Mann, CEO of Austrian Airlines, remains cautiously optimistic: “The discussions with the federal government are progressing well. I have the impression that all parties involved recognize the importance of aviation for Austria as a business and economic location.”
Overview of the key figures for the third quarter:
| Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | Change YoY | |
| Revenue in € million | 851 | 754 | +13% |
| Adj. total operating revenue in € million | 875 | 770 | +14% |
| Adj. total operating expenditures in € million | 734 | 651 | +13% |
| Adjusted EBIT in € million | 141 | 119 | +18% |
| EBIT in € million | 140 | 118 | +19% |
| Passengers in thousands | 4,890 | 4,740 | +3% |
| Available seat kilometers (ASK) in million | 8,801 | 8,380 | +5% |
| Capacity utilization (passenger load factor) in % | 86.8 | 88.2 | -1.4pp |
| Number of flights | 35,993 | 36,164 | 0% |
| Fleet size (fleet in operation) | 68 | 68 | |
| Regularity of operation | 99.2% | 99.2% | |
| Punctuality on departure | 77.2% | 74.4% | +2.8pp |
| Punctuality on arrival | 82.4% | 79.9% | +2.5pp |
| Employees | 6,186 | 6, 125 | +1% |
| 1-9 2026 | 1-9 2025 | Change YoY | |
| Revenue in € million | 2,072 | 1,931 | +7% |
| Adj. total operating revenue in € million | 2,129 | 1,996 | +7% |
| Adj. total operating expenditures in € million | 2,082 | 1,921 | +8% |
| Adjusted EBIT in € million | 48 | 76 | -37% |
| EBIT in € million | 46 | 74 | -38% |