Austrian Airlines (AUA) will early repay the loan granted in 2020 during the Corona crisis and secured by the Austrian state at the end of the year. Of the initial 300 million euros, 210 million euros were still outstanding. Due to the high liquidity after a strong summer quarter and a credit line from the German parent company Lufthansa, the loan can be repaid early and in full, the airline announced on Thursday.
AUA made a profit of 110 million euros in the summer. They are proud to be able to repay the loan early, “even if the deep financial scars of the pandemic are not fully healed for a few years,” said AUA chief executive Annette Mann in a press release. Originally, the loan would run until the end of 2025
High turnover in the summer quarter
After the Corona low of the past two years, AUA posted high sales and a triple-digit operating profit in the holiday months of July and August and also in September this year. Turnover has more than doubled compared to the third quarter of 2021, from 304 to 687 million euros. Quarterly turnover was even six percent or 39 million euros above the last summer quarter before the outbreak of the global pandemic.
Operating profit (adjusted EBIT), excluding aircraft fleet valuation changes, was the best quarterly result in decades at EUR 110 million, the AUA statement said. In the summer quarter of 2021, the airline was only just in the black with two million euros. Without the high cost of kerosene, profits this year would have been even higher.
The company has not quantified the amount of credit line that AUA receives from the parent company. The AUA was rescued in June 2020 after the first wave of the pandemic by the turquoise-green federal government with a total of 450 million euros. 150 million euros flowed directly from the state treasury to the airline’s accounts and did not have to be repaid. The Republic took responsibility for the 300 million euro loan and the owner, Lufthansa, contributed another 150 million.
The Lufthansa Group as a whole had to be saved from destruction with state support from various countries. These accounted for a total of nine billion euros. In the home country of Germany, the financial support had already been fully repaid by the end of 2021. In Switzerland, subsidiary Swiss received a loan of one billion euros under guarantee from the Swiss state in June this year.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
