In the previous year, Vienna Airport recorded a drop in passenger numbers of 67.1 percent to 10.4 million travelers compared to the year before the crisis, 2019. For this year, the airport expects around 17 million passengers despite a very low number of passengers in the first quarter. The hope rests on a strong summer business with many vacation trips. However, uncertainty weighs on the autumn and how the pandemic will continue.
Airport board member Julian Jäger expressed hope in an online press conference on Tuesday that the Omicron variant could be “the beginning of the end of the pandemic”. For the Flughafen Wien Group including Malta and Kosice Airports, 21 million passengers are expected this year. That corresponds to around 50 percent of the passenger volume from the pre-crisis level in 2019. In the previous year, the group had 13.1 million passengers, a drop of 66.8 percent.
With regard to the earnings outlook, the following was said today: So far, the airport has had to digest a pandemic-related loss of sales totaling 1.3 billion euros. 2022 should bring the economic turnaround, with sales of 560 million and an Ebitda of 172 million euros. All in all, the board expects a profit of EUR 20 million for this year. The basis for this is a “massive savings program, government support, above all the Corona short-time work, which is expected to end in March 2022, and an incredible commitment from all employees,” emphasized the board. The workforce shrank from 5,900 to around 5,000 employees during the crisis. There have not been any layoffs due to the Corona short-time work.
