Cheapskate Lauda back in action

Categories
Business

Niki Lauda is starring in another episode of an acclaimed advertisement series.The new advertising spot – set to be screened on Austrian television – shows the Formula One (F1) legend dragging a suitcase packed with shoes into the lobby of a hotel to clean and cream them on a shoe-polishing machine set up there for […]

Forstinger under fire for ‘Wehrmacht’ gas can sale

Categories
General News

A leading car equipment chain has apologised after it emerged that it offered a petrol can named after a World War Two (WWII) military force.Forstinger, which runs around 120 stories across Austria, promised today (Thurs) to remove the “Wehrmacht” gas canister from its shelves within the next few days after a member of the Austrian […]

Frosty reception for Turkish president

Categories
Politics

A party founded by late right-winger Jörg Haider has caused a diplomatic rift by announcing that the Turkish president “is not welcome” in Austria.The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) was established by Haider in 2005. The party said yesterday (Mon) – when Abdullah Gül started a three-day visit to Austria – that the […]

Long-term joblessness down as EE labour barrier vanishes

Categories
Business

The number of people failing to find a job for a long time is in decline, new figures show.Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said today (Mon) that 5,037 of all of last month’s jobseekers had been out of work for more than a year. The minister pointed out that this number was 30.2 […]

Tchibo-Eduscho ‘side sales’ prosper

Categories
Business

Tchibo-Eduscho, a leading coffee shop company, is making half of its profit with non-food goods, it has been revealed.The German-Austrian company – which runs 140 shops in Austria – said today (Fri) half of its overall turnover is generated by sales of jewellery, household products and clothes it is offering for limited time spans throughout […]

Flat screen TVs nicked from truck

Categories
General News

Dozens of TV sets have been stolen from a lorry in Lower Austria on Tuesday night, it was announced today (Fri).Police said 30 flat screen TVs – worth around 850 Euros each – disappeared from a Hungarian truck while it was parked at a motorway rest stop on the A1 western highway near Völlerndorf. Officers […]

Spas seen as ‘relationship rescuers’ by many

Categories
Business

Nearly one out of four Austrians visit spas to maintain their relationships, a new poll has shown.Research group Meinungsraum – which questioned more than 1,000 Austrians for health sector company Vamed – said today (Fri) 24 per cent said they visit spas with their partners to cherish their bonds.The vast majority of 90 per cent […]

Austrian air traffic up

Categories
Business

Austrian airports registered significantly more passengers last year.Figures presented by Statistik Austria show that planes departing and arriving at aerodromes across the country recorded 24.5 million passengers in 2010, up by 7.9 per cent compared to the previous year. The agency pointed out that this increase was achieved despite delays and preliminary air traffic shutdowns […]

Porr still feels the crunch

Categories
Business

Construction sector giant Porr AG’s earnings shrank by more than a fifth last year.The company announced today (Fri) that it achieved earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of 49.1 million Euros in 2010, down from 64 million Euros the year before.Porr argued that it has been feeling the most recent recession – which broke out […]

Authors angered by Vienna’s 800,000 book axe

Categories
Culture

Writers are outraged by news that Vienna’s libraries plan to get rid of hundreds of thousands of books.The IG Autoren, a group of authors, said in an open letter published today (Fri) it feared that the libraries will ban less popular works “which do not match the mainstream of the bestseller literature business.”A spokesman for […]