Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
Augsburg Airways is considering a public flotation to keep its expansion rolling, although the German regional carrier says that such a move is at least three years away.
Augsburg has financed its fleet growth, now planned at two aircraft a year, through private debt placement, but concedes that it may have to consider raising new cash on the share market to keep growth moving. At present, only three aircraft are directly owned by parent company Haindl Papier. The rest are leased.
Meanwhile, the airline's recovery appears to be gathering momentum, helped by its expanding operations as a Team Lufthansa franchise carrier. Passenger traffic more than doubled in the first half of this year and the airline expects to pass the 500,000-passenger threshold by the year-end. Average load factors grew from 39% to a more respectable 49%, helped by loads of above 78% on the Team Lufthansa services.
Sales also came close to doubling over the first half to reach DM58 million ($32 million) and Augsburg is optimistic that it will end the year showing its first profit.
The airline's only remaining problem route is Erfurt-Munich, which is still not attracting sufficient passengers, says Augsburg. Traffic on the initially slow-developing Augsburg-Frankfurt service has now doubled, but the route is still not profitable. The carrier is nevertheless continuing with the service, which has increased traffic through Augsburg Airport by 19%.
Augsburg now operates 12 Bombardier de Havilland Dash 8s, with three more to be delivered by March 1999. The airline also has seven options on further Dash 8-200/-300s or the new 70-seat Dash 8-400, with a decision due by the end of this year.
According to sales and marketing manager Claus Fischer, the major factor that could slow the airline's expansion is not aircraft but a lack of engineers and pilots for its relatively low-salaried turboprop operation. The company took on 70 new personnel in January, but still needs more crews at Augsburg and Hamburg.
Because of this, it remains uncertain whether the three new deliveries will be additions to the fleet or replacements for some of the older aircraft taken from Tyrolean Airways, the leases of which expire in the second and third quarters of next year.
Source: Flight International
