There still seems to be a lot of need for discussion among the shareholders of Klagenfurt Airport regarding the repayment of marketing grants that were once granted to Tuifly and Ryanair. The city of Klagenfurt wants its piece of the pie.

At the most recent meeting of the city senate, Maximilian Wildt, managing director of the airport, also had to answer questions. The manager gave the politicians information about how the 2023 financial year went and what forecasts he has for the current year 2024. Most recently, Klagenfurt Airport recorded around 153.000 passengers. Wildt also explained to the city senate what investments are necessary in the short, medium and long term.

During the discussion, the repayment of the marketing subsidies granted to Tuifly and Ryanair in the past was also discussed. These were declared illegal by the EU Commission. Repayment was ordered. After both airlines had taken legal action for years, which were ultimately unsuccessful as the European Court of Justice confirmed the EU Commission's view, the money has to flow back. Only in the case of Air Berlin, which succeeded Tuifly in Klagenfurt, is it very unlikely that even a single cent will ever flow back to Carinthia due to the insolvency proceedings.

But it doesn't seem to be entirely clear to those responsible who is actually entitled to around 12,4 million euros. The state of Carinthia insists that these are state funds and therefore only and exclusively the state of Carinthia has a claim to them. The airport company sees it differently because they want it have at least part of the million euros. The city of Klagenfurt also claims it.

This was discussed in the city senate and it was decided that the state of Carinthia would be approached again with this issue. The city leadership of Klagenfurt is of the opinion that the state capital is entitled to at least part of the approximately 12,4 million euros that Tuifly and Ryanair have to pay back. You want to secure this part of the cake.

There is therefore an obvious disagreement about who is entitled to the entire sum or how it should be divided. According to the current state of affairs, the city, state and airport company (owned by the state of Carinthia and the city of Klagenfurt) represent three completely different points of view. So it can be assumed that there must be some conversations behind the scenes.