In the first five months of the current year, a total of 22.982 passenger flights were carried out from the Austrian airports. There were 1.267.897 passengers on board. A fraction of the previous performance “before Corona”.

In the previous year, the months of January and February were not affected by the pandemic. From mid-March 2020, things then happened in quick succession, because, for example, a number of airlines ceased operations. For example, Lauda and Austrian Airlines also suspended their operations. Although there were at least some non-flights in March of the previous year, this year there was a further decrease to 220.046 travelers - spread across all Austrian airports.

If one compares January 2021 (203.352 passengers) with May 2021 (407.170 passengers), it can be seen that the transport performance has almost doubled. The fact that the number of flight movements only increased by a third is an indication that the load factor has improved significantly. The numbers are just a drop in the ocean, as they are well below the 2019 performance. The deficit can be expected to decrease over the summer, but the record levels are currently a long way off.

"The lion's share" flew from Vienna

Most of the flight movements in the first five months were at Vienna International Airport. It is therefore not surprising that of the 407.170 travelers in May 2021, 399.518 passengers used the capital's airport. The “rest”, ie 7.652 passengers, is accounted for by the federal state airports.

Graz was the “strongest” federal state airport

A look at the figures for Graz Airport shows that it got through the first five months of 2021 better than the other federal state airports. In direct comparison with the value for 2019, the numbers are extremely low, but if you consider that 7.652 travelers flew from the federal states in May, the fact that 4.983 passengers were from Graz shows that Graz performed better.

Furthermore, the Styrian airport has been showing a slight upward trend since March 2021, which is likely to continue through the summer of 2021 due to the holiday flights. It is very unlikely that the values ​​of 2019 can be achieved.

Klagenfurt: Only 183 passengers in five months

Klagenfurt Airport only had 2021 passengers from the beginning of January to the end of May 183. Only eight commercial flight movements were carried out during this period. This is also due to the fact that the scheduled connections to Vienna (Austrian Airlines) and Cologne / Bonn (Eurowings) were suspended with brief interruptions.

In the years before the corona pandemic, Klagenfurt was able to attract isolated charter in winter. Because of the entry and quarantine regulations, there was obviously no demand for this this year, because there was no classic charter.

Due to the resumption of connections to Cologne / Bonn and Vienna, it is to be expected that Klagenfurt will have more than 2021 passengers (May 88) from June 2021. The environment here is still difficult because there are only a few charter flights in summer.

Hit even harder: Linz

The Upper Austrian airport Linz-Hörsching has been cut off from regular line connections since the beginning of the corona pandemic. In the summer of the previous year, only charter flights were carried out. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that the airport only had 2021 passengers in the period from January to the end of May 64.

It's very tough for Linz, but in contrast to Klagenfurt, you have a second mainstay: freight. In this segment, the Upper Austrian airport was the only airport in Austria to grow. With regard to passenger flights: Air Dolomiti recently reactivated the connection to the Frankfurt hub and Bulgarian Air Charter is again providing holiday flights on behalf of tour operators. Further connections are announced. The Düsseldorf route has now been announced by Eurowings for September 2021.

"Roller coaster" in Salzburg

The second largest airport in Austria could not live up to its role in the first five months due to a lack of offers. The number of passengers fluctuated extremely strongly. For example, there were 2021 passengers in January 997, but only 2021 passengers in February 460. In April 2021 there were 1.016 passengers and in May the slump followed to 469 travelers.

It is also noteworthy that the load factor must have been extremely low in February 2021, because there were 24 passengers on 460 flights. The same number of flight movements was carried out in April 2021, but 1.016 passengers were counted.

Salzburg and Innsbruck actually do most of their annual business in the winter months. This has almost completely broken away this year. The background is that due to the entry and quarantine regulations, only a few individual charters were carried out. In "normal years" there is a lot of activity in winter. Financially, the circumstance is painful.

Innsbruck benefited from the Vienna route

The Tyrolean airport - just like Salzburg - "fell over" with almost the entire winter charter business. The number of passengers is correspondingly weak, but it performed better than the city of Mozart. The reason is that the connection to the Austrian Airlines hub in Vienna was served. This route is in demand both point to point and as a feeder.

The increased demand made itself felt at a low level in Innsbruck in May 2021, as there were 64 travelers on 2.048 flight movements. Compared to the volume that existed before the corona pandemic, that's just a drop in the ocean. Over the entire year, the resumption of the Frankfurt route and summer charter will no longer be able to make up for the decline that was experienced in winter.