Vienna  - As Austrian Airlines (AUA) predicted losses of up to 90 million euros for 2008 on Monday, its governing board commissioned a study on a potential strategic partner, according to a company statement.

The Austrian flag carrier expected higher fuel prices to spill over to company results in 2008, leading to losses between 70 and 90 million euros (95 and 142 million dollars).

Austrian reported 3.3 million euros in profits in 2007, its first positive result since 2004.

Amid strong competition and high fuel prices, the airline posted a net loss of 60.4 million euros in the first quarter of 2008 ending in March, compared with 16.4 million euros in the same period last year.

Austrian Airlines' Supervisory Board are asking the carrier's executives to conduct an evaluation together with Boston Consulting Group of "further performance potentials from the company's own optimizations and additional potentials of a strategic partnership," the statement said.

The evaluation should be ready by the end of September and should be based "on the current situation of the Austrian Airlines Group, strained by the high level of (jet fuel) prices", it said.

Lufthansa is considered to be a possible partner for Austrian Airlines, but Aeroflot and Air France have also been cited in media reports.

Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa's chief executive, recently expressed a basic interest in Austrian Airlines, but said that AUA's largest shareholder, Austria's privatization syndicate OIAG, "should first of all know what its future intentions for AUA are."

In May, an agreement with Saudi Arabian investor Mohammed al Jaber for taking over a 20 per cent stake of Austrian Airlines fell through after news of first-quarter results broke. (dpa)