euro adhoc: Austrian Airlines AG / quarterly or semiannual financial statement / Challenging competitive environment and extremely high kerosene price burden result

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24.04.2008

Power to invest in strenghts and pursue strategy even during
difficult periods

Financial Result of Austrian Airlines Group, First Quarter 2008

Austrian Chief Executive Officer Alfred Ötsch commenting on the
result: "While we are building on the solid base produced by the
reorientation of the Austrian Airlines Group during the financial
year 2007, the first quarter of 2008 has been strongly influenced
by the continued deterioration in market conditions and a range
of external factors. Due to the oil price at present, it will be
difficult to reproduce the levels of performance seen in 2007. From
the current viewpoint, we expect to see a lower adjusted EBIT for
the financial year 2008 compared to 2007 due to the time-lagged
effect of measures implemented through adjustment of fares and
surcharges. Under current framework conditions, it will be a major
challenge to achieve a profit that will justify our paying a
dividend for the financial year 2009, as the company is striving to
do. Despite these difficulties, we continue to pursue our strategy
and use the testing surrounding conditions to build on our
competitive position relative to other carriers. By expanding our
fleet by two A320 aircraft in 2009 in an effort to bring the
Premium Service concept to our core markets of Central and
Eastern Europe and the Middle East, we are consistently
strengthening our strategic positioning. Thanks to the strength of
our financial base that we have striven to bolster, we can now also
invest in our strengths during difficult periods, so expanding on
existing competitive advantage in our core markets, e.g. by
incorporating new routes to destinations such as Nizhniy Novgorod,
Sochi, Baia Mare, Jeddah and Riyadh. An average passenger growth
rate of 7.8% in CEE, compared to 4.8% in Western Europe
forecasted by IATA, is confirmation that we were correct to focus
on what is one of the highest-growth regions in the world, and
distinguishes us from competitive carriers. Due to the existing high
concentration of low cost carriers at the hub Vienna a tense yield
situation is expected, but the withdrawal of Sky Europe from the
Vienna-Innsbruck route shows that the measures we have taken to
force back the most aggressive competitors at our Vienna location
are now beginning to bear fruit."

Overview of Financial Result, first Quarter 2008

|Key indicators | |1-3 /2008 |1-3 / 2007|+/- % PY |
|Revenue |EURm |525.3 |561.5 |-6.4 |
|EBITDAR1,2 |EURm |29.5 |74.4 |-60.3 |
|EBITDAR1,2 adjusted3 |EURm |37.4 |66.3 |-43.6 |
|Result from operating activities
(EBIT)2 |EURm |-50.1 |-12.5 |-
|Result from operating activities
(EBIT)2 adjusted3 |EURm |-42.2 |-20.6 |- |
|Net result for the period |EURm |-60.4 |-16.3 |- |
|Cash flow from operating
activeties |EURm |43.8 |69.0 |-36.5 |
|Net gearing |% |135.3 |149.4 |- |
|Passengers carried (scheduled &
charter) |passengers|2,290,139 |2,246,005 |2.0 |
|Passenger load factor (scheduled
services) |% |71.9 |74.0 |-2.1 P. |
|Employees (end of period) | |7,842 |8,150 |-3.8 |

1 Result from operating activities (EBIT) before associates, before
depreciation and rentals
2 Regrouping of interest costs of allocation of provisions for pensions,
severance payments and anniversary payments from
personnel expenses to financial expenses
3 Adjusted by the result from the disposal of assets, other costs of the
transfer of aircraft, foreign currency valuations at the reporting
date and impairment of the value of aircraft

Rückfragehinweis / For further information:
Dr. Prisca Havranek-Kosicek, Investor Relations, Austrian Airlines AG, Tel.:
+43 (0)5 1766 - 13311, Fax: +43 (0)5 1766 13899, e-mail: prisca.havranek-
kosicek@austrian.com

Die Angaben zur Offenlegung gemäß §§ 24 und 25 Mediengesetz sind unter

www.austrian.com auffindbar / Please find further information
concerning the disclosure according to §§ 24 and 25 Media Act on
www.austrian.com

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Austrian Airlines
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Corporate Communications:

Livia Dandrea-Böhm

Tel.: 051766-11231

Investor Relations

Dr. Prisca Havranek-Kosicek

Tel.: 051766 - 13311

Branche: Air Transport
ISIN: AT0000620158
WKN: 875224
Index: WBI, ATX Prime
Börsen: Wiener Börse AG / official market