"In the first six months of 2010 Malév's passenger traffic was similar to that of the same period in 2009, with a total of 1.3 million customers flying on the carrier's services. Even though there was no increase, still the number of passengers reflects an improvement in efficiency because it managed to achieve the same result with 16% fewer flights and increased the average load factor by 3.5%. The airline also cut its costs by a significant amount - 16.6 million Euros - in the first half of this year compared with the January-June 2009 figure.As has already been reported, last year Malév implemented major cost-cutting measures, the results of which are apparent this year. In the framework of the fleet unification programme the airline has restructured its fleet on two aircraft types (B737 and Bombardier Q400), trimmed its workforce by 25%, closed several loss-making routes (among them, in 2008, its long-haul flights that were generating losses of billions of forints), closed its offices in 12 countries and ensured that sales activities are conducted by professional general sales agents. Closure of the expensive offices abroad is currently ongoing.
"Our significant cost-cutting measures are still not enough to stem the losses. The airline was particularly badly hit this year by unfavourable exchange rate fluctuations and the crisis caused by the volcanic ash cloud. At the same time, the situation of Malév is no different from that of other European carriers, which clearly shows the depth of crisis facing the industry in Europe," said Martin Gauss, pointing out the unforeseen difficulties faced in the first half of the year."
Source: Malév Hungarian Airlines
27.07.2010