Klagenfurt Airport needs grants of up to 13 million euros next year. In five years, the airport should be able to support itself financially, predicts chairman of the supervisory board and K-BV board member Martin Payer. 

According to the announcement, the newly formed supervisory board of Carinthia Airport has approved the framework conditions for future development. The airport has a high investment backlog that has built up over many years. Even before the sale to Lilihill, the public sector was extremely stingy. Everything is supposed to get better now, but one word keeps coming up: “land utilization”. 

This means that the airport company's properties, which are supposedly not necessary for operations, are to be monetized. Lilihill also had such a plan, but it failed, not least because of the considerable resistance from the K-BV. But there is no longer any secret of the fact that the airport will sooner or later separate itself from one area or another. 

First there are some investments. This includes the modernization of the terminal and all catering buildings at the airport. They also want to achieve and operate a general aviation center. The old boiler house is to be demolished and the freed-up area is to be used. The hotel wing, which has been abandoned for some time, is to be renovated and converted into around 350 square meters of office space. Furthermore, a new hangar is to be built for the Ministry of the Interior's helicopters. The gate areas are expected to generate additional income in the future. In the future, it should be possible for these to be rented outside of operating hours for conferences and events.  

“My task over the past four months has been to create the framework conditions as quickly as possible so that the management can concentrate on the positive development of the core business. We have achieved this with a supervisory board that pulls together and believes in the development of the airport,” says Martin Payer, the new KFBG supervisory board chairman and board member of the Carinthian Investment Administration (K-BV). 

 Managing director Maximilian Wildt expects that Klagenfurt Airport will have around 2023 passengers in 150.000 as a whole. He is aiming for at least 200.00 passengers next year. Austrian Airlines’ Hamburg flights are described as a “small success”. However, it is not clearly stated that these are only individual rounds for a few weeks. 

Apart from the Vienna route, the winter and summer flight schedules are currently rather poor. Austrian Airlines (Vienna), Ryanair (London-Stansted, Palma de Mallorca and Alicante) have been registered for the warm season of 2024. Other airlines have not yet made any binding commitments for scheduled flights.  

The supervisory board and management are currently assuming that Klagenfurt Airport will need subsidies of between 11 and 13 million euros next year. “Today’s meeting represents a clear recommendation from the Supervisory Board. We have to invest to make the airport fit for the future and to create the opportunity to quickly generate additional revenue. From today’s perspective, the airport will be able to support itself in just 5 years,” summarizes Payer.