The corona crisis also plunges the traffic figures at Graz Airport into unimagined depths: with almost 200.000 passengers, a minus of 81 percent was recorded.
The corona pandemic has lasting negative effects on the entire flight and travel industry and thus of course also on Graz Airport. The airport had to remain idle for a total of three months without recording a single regular scheduled or charter flight. This is also reflected in the figures: In the Corona year, exactly 199.490 passengers were looked after at Graz Airport (-80,8 percent compared to 2019). In the line, the development shows a decrease of 184.666 percent with 79,4 passengers, in the charter segment with 14.824 passengers a decrease of 89,6 percent was recorded. Only 4.002 flight movements could be registered. By contrast, the effects of the crisis on the freight sector were rather minor. The total freight volume corresponds to 16.220 tons, a decrease of “only” 14,5 percent. As with all other airports, the same applies to Graz: nobody expected that. Especially not after 2019, the best year in history.
Airport boss Wolfgang Grimus is cautiously optimistic about the future: "Comprehensive vaccination and test strategies by numerous governments and the confident plans of the airlines and tour operators mean that we can expect a gradual improvement in the situation and thus a higher travel volume, especially from the second half of 2021 . “He assumes that at least a large part of the previously offered line connections will be resumed. These would include Vienna, Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Zurich and Amsterdam, among others. In addition, various travel providers are preparing a varied summer flight program “from the current point of view”. Around 15 charter chains to attractive bathing destinations from Graz are planned. “The flight destinations also include three new destinations: the Greek islands of Naxos, Karpathos and Zakynthos. Popular holiday destinations such as Brac, Mallorca, Rhodes or Antalya are also available again, ”says the press release.
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