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Lauda makes bid to add third Hong Kong service

LAUDA Air of Austria has asked its government to reopen air services agreement negotiations with Hong Kong in its bid to add new flights to the territory.

Sunny Yu, Lauda's general manager for Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan, said authorities in Vienna had been asked to make a formal request to the Hong Kong Government to restart talks.

This follows rejection by the Economic Services Branch of Lauda's application to add a third weekly flight. It operates two flights a week from Vienna, via Bangkok.

Lauda Air first applied last summer but the bid was rejected. A second application was made last month but Economic Services said it needed more backup data to make a decision, Mr Yu said.

The existing air services agreement between Austria and Hong Kong allows for two flights a week for carriers from each side. No Hong Kong airline flies to Austria.

Mr Yu said the addition of the second frequency last year produced a 277 per cent increase in revenue in just 12 months, with about HK$50 million taken in from cargo and passengers between November 1994 and last month.

Mr Yu said revenue was split almost evenly at $25 million each for cargo and passengers.

'When we had a once-per-week service it was not really a scheduled flight, and the frequency was not very good for the passenger,' Mr Yu said.

'We hope to have the third frequency by next summer.' Mr Yu said cargo demands had grown significantly over the year as a result of increasing Austrian business activities in southern China.

He said the average load factor on flights this year was between 70 per cent and 75 per cent, a good figure for the Boeing 767-300 extended-range aircraft used on the route.

The 767 can transport 10 to 15 tonnes of cargo with a passenger load of 180. It can carry 244 passengers.

Lauda Air recently ordered four Boeing 777s, with the first due to go into service on the Vienna-Hong Kong route in September 1997, allowing for a much greater cargo capacity.

The aircraft can carry 25 tonnes of cargo with a full passenger load.

'We have found that with the 767, a 78-per cent passenger load factor is the best mix for revenue,' Mr Yu said.

'With two flights per week we don't really need to increase the passenger loads. There is higher demand for cargo.

'The point, though, is that to increase cargo capacity is one thing, to increase the passenger scheduled services is another.

'In reality, passengers would like to have more choices of departures per week. That is why we hope we can increase flights to three per week by next summer. We will not get the 777 until mid-to-late 1997.'

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