The house brand of the South Tyrolean airport Bozen, Skyalps, wants to grow strongly in the next few years. The fleet is to be increased by further de Havilland Dash 8-400 and the operation of regional jets can also be imagined.

The machines are currently operated by the Maltese Luxwing on behalf of the South Tyrolean. That will change in the medium term, because in the future you want to be in the air with your own Italian certificates. Luxwing has not only bought "flight services", but the Maltese carrier is supporting Skyalps in setting up the new airline and is delivering it "turnkey".

Not much will change for the flying personnel after the AOC and operating license have been issued by ENAC. This can switch seamlessly to Skyalps. Bolzano is still underserved and wants to expand the route network significantly in the next few years. This requires additional commercial aircraft. First of all, you want to stay with the de Havilland Dash 8-400, which has proven itself in the eyes of those responsible. In the medium term, company boss Josef Gostner can also imagine regional jets to head for destinations that are outside the Dash range.

Consortium breathed new life into sleepy provincial airport

Under the ownership of the state of South Tyrol, Bolzano Airport languished for many years. The range of routes shrank gradually to zero routes. Recently, there weren't even any typical summer charter flights. A referendum even led to the state of South Tyrol having to withdraw. A consortium including Gostner and Haselsteiner took over the small airport and has since invested quite a bit of money.

Further development will focus on both incoming and outgoing business. Within the group of companies, there is an in-house tour operator that offers classic package tours. These appeal to both Tyroleans who want to spend their holidays by the sea, for example, and tourists who want to come to South Tyrol for skiing or hiking. Before the consortium's investment, guests arriving by air did not play a particularly important role, as there were hardly any or no flights available. Excluded from this is the particularly well-heeled clientele who traveled by private plane.

Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich in the pipeline

It is also worth mentioning that the background of Bolzano Airport and Skyalps also includes hotelier heavyweights. Both operators and owners are involved. Ideally, combining forces with the financial strength of the investors should lead to Skyalps being a complete success. However, there have also been a few setbacks: for example, the connection to the capital Rome was a flop and only recently a Slovenian tour operator canceled planned charter flights to Italy from Maribor.

To Zurich-Kloten, that was recently recorded, Munich and Frankfurt am Main have also been considered. First, however, they want to include Stuttgart. Gostner explained to Alto Adige, among other things, that this is an important market that they want to serve in the future. Skyalps should also focus strongly on winter sports enthusiasts, because South Tyrol is a very popular destination for skiing holidays in Baden-Württemberg. Depending on the place of departure, arriving by car can be quite tough due to the geographic location of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano.