Austria's second largest airport, Salzburg, will not receive any corona aid such as fixed cost subsidies or compensation for losses that have arisen due to the pandemic according to the current state of affairs.
So far, the airport has been receiving support in the form of short-time work and partial revenue replacement. According to a report by the Kronen Zeitung based on a conversation with managing director Bettina Ganghofer, nine million euros have flowed so far.
However, due to its ownership, Salzburg Airport should not have access to further "Corona aid". The other pots should only be accessible to companies that are privately owned. But that is exactly not the case, because the airport belongs entirely to the city and state of Salzburg.
Salzburg Airport sees unequal treatment, because Klagenfurt and Vienna have received aid from those pools that are not accessible to Salzburg. This is supposed to be due to the fact that Vienna and Klagenfurt have private majority owners and are therefore viewed as private companies.
"If two out of six airports receive grants, it is distorting competition," Bettina Ganghofer told the Kronen Zeitung. So far, talks that she has had with the Ministry of Finance have not been successful. But she wants to keep fighting, because it is about 12 million euros that Salzburg urgently needs due to the fact that the previous winter season was a complete failure.
The manager also points out that this year alone, around five million euros have been taken out in the form of loans. “It would be of great help to us if we could at least get compensation for losses of around eight million euros. We would not have to raise any further funds, ”Ganghofer told the Kronen Zeitung.