World Champion Austria Logistics
“Air traffic is something that will always exist” This interview with Günther Ofner, CFO of Vienna Airport (Flughafen Wien AG), should have been all about excellent figures and future targets. But everything has changed now…
The Covid crisis has hit the aviation industry badly. How is Vienna Airport dealing with this situation? The Covid crisis had a massive effect on global aviation and therefore also the airport in Vienna. The rise in infections and travel restrictions in various countries led to a significant reduction in travel; airlines reduced their schedules drastically. In the first few months of the crisis air traffic at the Vienna Airport came almost completely to a halt. Since mid-June 2020 we have seen a slight increase in passenger numbers but overall, we are clearly behind last year’s levels. Vienna Airport’s staff is on a short-time work scheme and major investments have been pushed back. The new Office Park 4 and the renovation of Terminal 2 will be finished though.
The global dimension of the Covid crisis is unique in the history of aviation. Almost every country in the world has recorded infections, which results in national travel restrictions and less travelling. But the coronavirus will stay with us for a while and therefore we need uniform travel regulations, in particular for entry into the European Union, in order to revive international business and holiday trips. Without functioning international air travel, the crisis will take hold longer. This does not only apply to tourism and conferences but also to large parts of the economy and the industry. If an economy that depends so strongly on exports as Austria’s is not present on the international markets, there won’t be any new orders and thus no work in future.
Photo: Flughafen Wien AG
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he year 2020 started really well; Vienna Airport recorded great figures. 2019 had mainly seen a strong growth in passengers: The Vienna Airport Group (including the airports Kosice and Malta), served 39.5 million passengers (+15 percent). The airport in Vienna itself surpassed the old record of 2018 with 31.7 million travellers (+17.1 percent). The Vienna Airport Group expected a slowdown in 2020 but remained optimistic, believing in a passenger growth of three to four percent and increases in turnover, EBITDA and the net result. For the airport in Vienna, a passenger growth of three to five percent was projected. This had resulted in no further slots being available at peak times from 2020 onwards, which in turn would have allowed only for limited further growth. But then the Covid crisis took hold and everything changed… Terminals, usually full of travellers, remained deserted all over the world. Entire airline fleets stayed on the ground. A horror scenario for any airport. With this backdrop, we met Günter Ofner, CFO of the Vienna Airport Group, for an interview.
Günter Ofner, CFO of the Vienna Airport Group
