For many years, Klagenfurt Airport has been a subject of heated debate in local politics. Majority privatization should put an end to political interference, but the opposite is the case. The state of Carinthia is now considering buying back the regional airport.

Klagenfurt is currently the only federal state airport that has a private majority owner. A few years ago, the Lilihill Group was able to assert itself in a tender for sale and holds around 75 percent. In autumn of the previous year it became known that the investor would like to take over the airport completely, but the state of Carinthia and the city of Klagenfurt opposed it.

The state government has now had an expert opinion drawn up. This should analyze the possibilities of a buyback by the public sector. The contracts contain a clause that states, among other things, that the city of Klagenfurt and the state of Carinthia can cancel the deal if the airport has fewer than 100.000 passengers per year. That was exactly the case, but the public sector was unsure whether the clause could be drawn due to the external circumstances of the corona pandemic.

Trigger for the latest dispute between the public sector, which is a minority shareholder, and the Lilihill Group: The planned Aviation City. City of Klagenfurt and Province of Carinthia oppose the planthat the airport company should sell the land required for this to a Lilihill sister company. The private majority owner considers the project necessary for the further development of the airport, while the minority shareholders believe that the land can remain at the airport.

So there is currently a stalemate situation, because Lilihill cannot take over Klagenfurt Airport completely and cannot build Aviation City without the consent of the city of Klagenfurt and the state of Carinthia. The state government is now considering making use of the call option and buying back Klagenfurt Airport. One of the arguments is that the airport last had 30.000 passengers and the clause comes into effect when the airport had fewer than 100.000 passengers. As already mentioned: The state government was unsure whether the option could be exercised or not due to the external circumstances of the corona pandemic.

Among other things, an expert opinion comes to the conclusion that the public sector can use the call option. Corona cannot serve as an “excuse”. Now it's the turn of the supervisory board of Kärntner Beteiligungsverwaltung, a subsidiary of the state of Carinthia. At the end of April 2022, this will vote on whether to buy back the shares held by Lilihill. Provincial Councilor Martin Gruber (ÖVP) did not want to comment on the content. All he said was that he did not want to prejudge the panel's decision.