Austrian Airlines has recently made the announcement for their passenger numbers during the month of June, where the amount of passengers they served on their flights dropped by 1.6 percent in comparison to the month of June last year, putting it at just barely more than 1 million passengers, while the load factor during the month was 73.6 percent, which is 1.3 percent lower in comparison to the same time period in 2007. On the short-haul and medium-hauls routes of the carrier, the number of passengers went up by 1.7 percent in June, while comparing it to the numbers of last year, mainly because the European Football Championships were being held during that time in Switzerland and Austria.

The volume for their long-haul operations, however, were hit the hardest, as they dropped by 5.8 percent in comparison to the volume of last year. Austrian Airlines blames the conditions of the economy in the United States and the visa requirements, which have been tightened, for those who are traveling to China during the weeks that the Olympic Games are opening in Beijing. Rolling passenger totals of those that Austrian Airlines carried within the first half of the year went up by 2.3 percent in comparison to the same period of last year, putting the total passenger numbers at 5.2 million. Also during that same time period, their load factor rose by 0.5 percent at 73.5 percent, comparing it to last year, according to a report from Austrian Airlines.

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