No state money for AUA’s Vienna – Linz service
By Thomas HochwarterUpper Austrian governor Josef Pühringer has
rejected Austrian Airlines (AUA) appeal for financial support for its
Vienna Linz route.The People Party (ÖVP) governor today
(Weds) confirmed reports claiming the struggling airline had contacted
the government to discuss subsidies.”Financial support by the state of Upper Austria is out of the question,” Pühringer said.The governor added he would ask Linz Airport for passenger statistics to check the airlines claims the route was loss-making.AUA
which was taken over by Germanys Lufthansa last September recently
reported losses of 75.7 million Euros for the third quarter of this
year. Its loss in the same quarter of 2008 was 16.4 million Euros.The
airline recently informed the Labour Market Service (AMS) it would
dismiss up to 170 employees at its subsidiary Tyrolean as part of
drastic cost-cutting measures.