Austrian Airlines sees 2017 passenger record

VIENNA, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Austrian Airlines (AUA) has seen a passenger record of 12.9 million in 2017, the Lufthansa subsidiary said in a press release on Wednesday.

This marks a passenger increase of 1.5 million, or 12.8 percent, compared to 2016.

The Austrian flag-carrier airline also saw an increase in its seat occupancy rate of 0.7 percent, to reach an average 76.8 percent per flight for the year.

It carried out 143,999 flights in total in 2017, averaging about 395 per day.

The airline attributed its record year to a boost in its European flight offerings, though the collapse of German budget carrier Air Berlin and Austrian subsidiary Niki likely also played a role.

AUA Chief Commercial Officer Andreas Otto said the company aims to set a new passenger record this year, with the addition of two new long-distance routes to Tokyo, Japan and Cape Town in South Africa. Enditem