Linz Airport: Losses of millions and uncertain future endanger the company!

Linz Airport: Losses of millions and uncertain future endanger the company!

Linz, Österreich - The situation at the airports in Austria is currently tense. More and more regional airports are fighting with economic difficulties, and Linz Airport is no exception. The Linz airport, which has been writing red numbers for years, urgently needs support. While the city of Linz is planning to provide two million euros each for 2025 and 2026, the signs are on uncertainty. The financing should be decided in an soon-to-take city council meeting, but the agreement has so far been postponed, such as Junge Welt

50% of the shares of the airport belong to the state of Upper Austria, which could also provide grants. Overall, no less than eight million euros are necessary to stabilize the airport over the next two years. However, the airport's equity is now less than ten percent and passenger volume has dropped dramatically in the past two decades. In 2005 the airport still counted 725,000 passengers, in 2008 the maximum level was reached with over 800,000 passengers. In 2024 there were only 180,694 passengers.

Current passenger numbers in the upswing

Despite these challenges, Linz Airport has recently shown a small ray of hope: in the first quarter of 2025, the passenger volume increased by impressive 31 percent to 27,114 passengers. The Linz Airport is thus involved in the general positive development of the Austrian aviation industry. From January to the end of March 2025, six Austrian commercial airports had a total of around 7.3 million passengers, which corresponds to an increase of 1.1 percent compared to the previous year, explains Nachrichten.at . In addition, the air freight can have an increase from 6.2 percent to 89,851 tons, which could also give the industry new swing.

The development at Vienna Airport is particularly gratifying, where the number of passengers rose to 6.01 million. Klagenfurt Airport also recorded 25.1 percent of strong growth. In this regard, the economy on the flight market is slightly positive, which the AÖV (Austrian Airports Association) is optimistic. AÖV President Julian Jäger speaks of increasing demand in leisure traffic and confidently looks at the upcoming summer trip time.

regional airports in the crisis

Not all airports benefit equally from these developments. Graz Airport had to accept a decline of 8.2 percent and the Salzburg Airport even 5 percent, which is particularly due to the hiring of important connections. These challenges should not be underestimated: regional airports such as Linz and Klagenfurt face declining number of passengers and flight movements, which is a serious risk of their existence. The AÖV emphasizes that structural support is necessary to maintain the role of these airports as important job engines and business factors ( Aviation Direct ).

For Linz Airport, it remains to be seen whether the planned subsidies will soon be decided. Critics, such as the KPÖ, express concerns about the use of private jets and demand a critical examination of subsidization. In view of these mixed messages, those responsible in Linz must have a good hand to lead the airport into a stable future.