Vienna - Passenger numbers at troubled carrier Austrian Airlines declined by 1.1 per cent in 2008, as business caved in amid the global economic crisis in the third quarter, the company said Thursday.

Lufthansa is set to take over the Austrian flag carrier, pending approval from the European Commission.

The airline's long-distance flights were hit the hardest, with passenger numbers dropping 9.4 per cent year-on-year. In December, numbers fell by 13.1 per cent from the same month in 2007.

Bucking the trend, 6.2 per cent more seats were filled on flights to Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Jet Airways, the nation’s largest domestic carrier, has rolled out an affiliate marketing program in the market, as part of the company’s new digital marketing strategy to increase its revenue.

During the announcement, the company said that the program will be managed by Shoogloo Affiliate Marketing.

Under the program, the Jet Airways Affiliate Program provides Affiliate Partners with websites the opportunity to partner one of India’s leading brands, and generate revenues per conversion by promoting the airline’s web sales.

Paris  - French-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM said late Wednesday that it has probably incurred an operating loss of about 200 million euros (258 million dollars) in the third quarter of 2008.

The airline said in a statement that it was "not in a position at this stage to make any pronouncement on the operating income forecasts circulating in the market" for its full fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2009.

Air France-KLM said that its objective remained "to generate a positive operating result," but this depended on the economic situation, especially on its cargo business, "which is facing a tough operating environment."

Budapest  - Unions called off a strike at Budapest's Ferihegy international airport Wednesday, but had yet to reach a compromise with airport management in a dispute over terms and conditions.

Passengers were faced with delays on Monday afternoon when two unions representing ground staff announced the resumption of a strike that had been suspended after
12 days on December 22.

Budapest  - One of three terminals at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport was closed from 4 pm Monday as ground staff resumed a strike over pay and conditions.

In a repeat of the first days of industrial action six weeks earlier, crowds of hundreds of confused passengers amassed in the check-in area after security gates were closed.

Ground staff began their strike over terms and conditions on December 10.

On December 22, the unions suspended the strike for the holidays and returned to the negotiating table.

Budapest  - One of three terminals at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport was closed from 4 pm (1500 GMT) on Monday as ground staff resumed a strike over pay and conditions.

"Management has made no serious attempt in the past few weeks to solve the industrial dispute," the two unions behind the strike said in a statement.

Budapest Airport announced that passengers should expect delays of a few hours, but no cancellations should be necessary.