Vienna Airport continued breaking records in 2018. The threshold of 27 million passengers was surpassed at Vienna Airport in 2018 for the very first time.
On balance, the Flughafen Wien Group registered more than 34 million passengers, comprising a year-on-year increase of 11.3%. The outlook for 2019 is once again optimistic, with the Flughafen Wien Group expecting passenger growth of 8-10% as well as increases in revenue, EBITDA and a 10% rise in the net earnings. Passenger volume at the Vienna Airport site is expected to increase by about 10% in 2019.
2019: About 30 million passengers at Vienna Airport, 38 million in the Flughafen Wien Group
“2018 was once again a records year at Vienna Airport, with more than 27 million passengers. The main growth drivers at Vienna Airport were in particular Austrian Airlines followed by Laudamotion and the easyJet Group. On balance, there was a strong expansion of the low-cost offering, particularly due to the opening of three new bases by Wizz Air, Laudamotion and LEVEL. Moreover, long-haul routes developed very well. We also look ahead very optimistically to the year 2019 and anticipate passenger growth of about 10% at Vienna Airport to approx. 30 million passengers. The further expansion of the low-cost segment and the approved conversion of the Austrian Airlines aircraft fleet at the airport site as well as further growth on long-haul routes of Austrian Airlines, Air Canada and ANA should also provide added impetus”, explains Julian Jäger, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG.
Dividend in 2018 up 30%, 10% rise in the net profit - 25,000 employees soon at Vienna Airport
“The good corporate development will enable a rise in the dividend by about 30%, in which case we will increase the payout ratio in two steps to 60% from the current level of 50%. We expect an increase in the net profit for the period by at least 10% to € 165 million in 2019, higher investments totalling approx. € 240 million and above all, the number of employees at Vienna Airport will climb to about 25,000 thanks to growth of existing business operations as well as the location of new companies at the airport site. Flughafen Wien AG will invest roughly € 2.5 billion (excl. the 3rd runway) in the ten-year period until 2028. The plans of the EU Commission to centralise airport charges would comprise a massive obstruction of the 3rd runway. For this reason, these plans should be rejected from an Austrian standpoint”, states Günther Ofner, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG.
Flughafen Wien Group handles 34.4 million passengers in 2018 (+11.3%)
The Flughafen Wien Group (Vienna Airport and the foreign strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport) reported a total of 34.4 million passengers in 2018, comprising double-digit passenger growth of 11.3% from the prior-year level.
Vienna Airport: 27 million passengers (+10.8%)
For the first time in its history, Vienna Airport surpassed the threshold of 27 million passengers, recording a total of 27,037,292 passengers in 2018, or a year-on-year increase of 10.8%. In particular, long-haul routes had a positive impact on the airport’s performance, along with new flight connections and frequency increases on the part of the airlines. The number of transfer passengers (+3.7%) and local passengers (+13.6%) developed positively. Similarly, the number of starts and landings rose by 7.3%, and capacity utilisation of the aircraft (seat load factor) climbed by 1.3 percentage points to 76%. Cargo volume developed positively in the course of the year, increasing by 2.6% to 295,427 tonnes.
Higher passenger volume to Western and Eastern Europe, North America, Africa and Asia
The number of passengers departing for Western European destinations showed a substantial increase of 10.3% in the year 2018. The number of passengers to Eastern Europe rose by 8.3% in 2018. Passenger volume to the Far East developed particularly well, climbing by 33.5%, whereas passenger traffic to the Middle East was up by 8.3%. The number of travellers to North America increased by 8.9%. Africa showed passenger growth of 29.8% in 2018.
Top destinations in 2018: Western Europe - London, Eastern Europe - Moscow, long-haul routes - Bangkok
The highest number of passengers to any single destination was registered by London with 682,545 departing passengers, followed by Frankfurt with 601,045 travellers flying from Vienna Airport and Berlin with 530,712 passengers. Moscow was the most popular destination in Eastern Europe, attracting a total of 290,602 passengers, ahead of Bucharest with 228,746 departing passengers and Sofia with 155,655 travellers. Dubai was the top destination in the Middle East with 227,034 passengers, whereas Tel Aviv was second with 206,581 passengers leaving Vienna and Doha placed third with 101,262 passengers. Bangkok was the most popular long-haul route, attracting a total of 177,205 passengers, ahead of Taipei with 131,829 and Peking with 67,760 passengers respectively.
74 airlines serve 205 destinations in 71 countries
In the ranking of airlines as measured by their share of overall passenger volume, Austrian Airlines was in the number one position with a share of 47.5%, followed by Eurowings (incl. Germanwings) with 9.2%, the easyJet Group with 4.9%, Lufthansa with 3.4% and Laudamotion with a share of 2.2%. The top ten airlines at Vienna Airport in 2018 also include Turkish Airlines, accounting for a 2.0% share of total passenger volume, along with British Airways at 1.8%, Emirates and SWISS, each with a 1.7% share of passenger traffic, and Wizz Air with 1.6%. In 2018 Vienna Airport was regularly served by a total of 74 airlines, offering flight service to 205 destinations in 71 countries.
Positive cargo development: cargo volume up 2.6%
The cargo business at Vienna Airport developed positively in 2018, reporting a total cargo volume (incl. trucking) of 295,427 tonnes, comprising a rise of 2.6% compared to 2017. Air cargo alone rose substantially by 4.4% to 215,921 tonnes, whereas trucking declined by 1.9% to 79,506 tonnes.
Good development of international strategic investments
Malta Airport reported record traffic results in 2018, handling a total of 6,808,177 passengers, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.2%. Kosice Airport registered a passenger volume of 539,552 travellers in 2018, up 9.1% from the previous year.
Forecast for passenger development: + 8-10% passenger growth in the Flughafen Wien Group in 2019, increase of about 10% in the number of passengers at Vienna Airport
The Flughafen Wien Group including its strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport expects an increase in passenger volume of 8-10% in 2019 to approx. 38 million travellers. Vienna Airport is expected to generate passenger growth of about 10% to some 30 million passengers. From today’s perspective, initial impetus to growth is likely to be provided by the launch off light service to Montreal (YUL) by Austrian Airlines, to Toronto (YYZ) by Air Canada and to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) by All Nippon Airways (ANA). The offering on short-haul and medium-haul routes will be expanded by new routes served by Vueling, Wizz Air, Laudamotion, LEVEL and Volotea.
Financial guidance 2019 for the Flughafen Wien Group: Higher revenue and EBITDA, 10% rise in net earnings
Accordingly, revenue is anticipated to rise to more than € 820 million, and an EBITDA exceeding € 370 million is being targeted for 2019. From today’s perspective, the consolidated net profit should amount to at least € 165 million. Flughafen Wien AG plans to further reduce its net debt to a level below € 150 million and make investments of approx. € 240 million in 2019.
Wishes to political decision makers: business location initiative, to actually achieve potential growth
In order to sustainably safeguard the investment strength of Vienna Airport and thus the growth perspectives of Austria itself as a business and tourism location, Vienna Airport sees the necessity of implementing a business location initiative featuring the following components:
- Strengthening of the traffic and transport infrastructure (in particular the rapid expansion of the railways in the direction of Bratislava, additional frequencies on the City Airport Train, expansion of the S1 and A4 motorways and the railway trunk line
- Abolishment of the ticket tax as a petty tax within the context of tax reform measures, in light of the fact that additional passenger growth will lead to a higher tax income than the ticket tax itself
- A clear position should be taken by Austria against the EU plan to centralise airport charges (EU plans centralisation of airport charges, which directly threatens plans for the 3rd runway at Vienna Airport).
