Vienna - The new management of Austrian Airlines AG announced a "crisis package" of austerity measures to ensure liquidity on Friday, moving quickly after Alfred Oetsch made public his resignation as chief executive late on Thursday.

The measures came as the partially state-owned carrier is waiting for the European Commission to greenlight the takeover by German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

The ailing flag carrier is to cut costs by some 225 million euros (294 million dollars) for a limited short-term period to compensate for an expected 15-per-cent drop in revenue this year, new chief executives Peter Malanik and Andreas Bierwirth said.

"The global economic crisis has now reached all markets, demand is collapsing and the outlook offers very little reason to be optimistic," Malanik said.

Flight capacity is to be cut by up to 10 per cent from last year, including cancelling the route to Mumbai. Other measures include salary waivers and suspending contributions to the pension fund.

The straightforward tone of the new managenement was in contrast to Oetsch's image as an optimist who had insisted that the company was in good health early last year, and who had stuck to a stand- alone policy for Austrian Airlines until last June.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Friday welcomed Oetsch's resignation as of Saturday, and said that the manager "was not acting with the care and dedication that a company needs for the future."

Malanik and Bierwirth were members of Austrian Airline's executive board until Oetsch stepped down as chief executive. (dpa)