The aviation industry, which was particularly hard hit by the pandemic, is gradually recovering. This is also shown by the figures published on Thursday for Vienna Airport, which has returned to profitability.
In the first half of the year, the operating company achieved a net profit of 52.3 million euros with a turnover of around 300 million euros. In the same period of 2020, Vienna Airport had made a loss of 18.2 million euros, in the first half of 2021 the minus was 32.5 million euros.
At the level before the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the airport is still missing around 30 million euros in profit and more than 100 million euros in sales. Nevertheless, optimism prevails among the board members Julian Jäger and Günther Ofner. “The holidaymakers are more than back, the business travelers are still missing,” said the hunter from Eferding.
The airport is already ten percent above the pre-crisis level for holiday flights to southern Europe. There is still some catching up to do with the connections to Germany, with Jäger assuming that flights to Frankfurt for meetings are a thing of the past and have been replaced by video conferences.
In the first half of the year, the company handled 9.2 million travelers in Vienna and 11.8 million across the group. The group also includes the airports in Malta and Kosice. Around 28 million passengers are expected this year, 22 million of them in Vienna. The annual turnover should be around 670 million euros, the annual result at least 100 million euros.
Higher tariffs at the beginning of the year
The airport is also feeling the effects of the higher energy costs. As Jäger announced, tariffs will be adjusted to inflation on January 1, 2023 and increased by five to six percent. “Thank God” the large photovoltaic system was put into operation in time, and it will be expanded this year and in 2023, said Ofner. Calculated over the year, the airport will be able to cover more than half of the airport’s electricity requirements.
The Management Board is also currently dealing with the takeover bid by the major shareholder IFM to the small shareholders. Jäger and Ofner consider the price of 33 euros per share to be too low in view of the good business figures and are concerned about the listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange, which is in the strategic interest of the company. IFM currently holds around 40 percent at the airport. The city of Vienna and the state of Lower Austria each own 20 percent, ten percent to an employee foundation. The rest is in free float.