Austria's Aviation State Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) said on Friday that the planned change to the Airport Charges Act (FEG) would mean that Salzburg Airport will be assured of around 35 million euros in revenue over the next five years.

Airport boss Bettina Ganghofer, who is also President of the Austrian Airports Association, said: “With these amendments, we are preventing airport charges from falling and providing a boost for Austria's aviation industry. Without a change in the law, the fees for Salzburg Airport would drop by around 2026 percent by 40. We have secured around 35 million euros for Salzburg Airport for the next 5 years ”.

According to Brunner, the federal government is taking legal action against this, because otherwise the legally permissible airport fees would rattle into the basement due to the corona crisis and the slump in air traffic. Airports will also no longer need a permit for the construction of solar and photovoltaic systems. 

Salzburg expects 300.000 passengers

In a normal year, Salzburg Airport has up to 1,9 million passengers, for this year 300.000 are forecast. “Meanwhile, tour operators and the airport are reporting a better booking situation and the number of air traffic is increasing. So we can look forward to a successful summer season and the upcoming summer tourist traffic with optimism. We are already expecting another million passengers for Salzburg next year, ”said Brunner. “After months of restrictions, vacation in and from Salzburg is finally possible again. Last weekend was a real restart for the vacation flights from Salzburg. The longing to fly abroad is great. The airport, crews and passengers are looking forward to taking off again. "

“The past 15 months, characterized by flight bans, travel restrictions and lockdowns, made flying and airport operations almost impossible. The summer has got off to a good start and the occupancy and booking figures are increasing, ”emphasizes Bettina Ganghofer, AÖV President and Managing Director of Salzburg Airport. "The successful restart of aviation was made possible by a wide variety of framework conditions, the most important of which were certainly the fall in incidences, the progress in vaccination and accompanying measures such as the introduction of the green passport and the expansion of Appendix A in the current immigration regulations to include additional countries."

Continued short-time work in Salzburg

With regard to the new aviation laws, Ganghofer states: “These new laws prevent additional losses in the millions. Many thanks to the Federal Government for this! " The airport manager is pushing for further opening steps: Further adjustments to the entry regulations are extremely important so that other countries that are so important for Austrian tourism can be included in Annex A. 

“The federal government's short-time working programs were essential to ensure that Austria's airports could keep their employees busy. Without them we would not have been able to manage the past few months, ”said Ganghofer. Salzburg Airport is expected to use short-time working until the end of the year.