Feldkirchen bei Graz, 17/ 01/ 2018: The year 2017 began very strongly for Graz Airport. In particular the new daily scheduled connection to Amsterdam was enthusiastically accepted by the passengers. But the cessation of the airberlin connection to Berlin as well as declines in the charter sector (no Antalya!) have shrunk this good head start achieved in the summer. Due to the many and well-booked scheduled connections, only a small passenger decrease of 2.3% was recorded at the end of the year.
"The many scheduled flights, especially to Amsterdam, Vienna, Frankfurt, Munich, Istanbul and Zurich, have developed very well," explains Mag. Gerhard Widmann, Managing Director of Graz Airport. "But of course, the end of the airberlin connection and the cancellation of Antalya flights, most recently our strongest charter destination with up to 70,000 passengers a year, had an impact on our traffic figures. Seen against this background, the passenger reduction was low".
"We know that the passenger development of an airport always depends on several factors. In this regard, management will be called upon in the future. In any case, the positive expansion in the scheduled segment is pleasing, which underlines the significance of the transport hub for the domestic economy. The strategic decision for more alliances has therefore proven itself," said Wolfgang Malik, CEO of the Holding Graz.
With 959,166 passengers, a passenger drop of approx. 2.3% and therefore approx. 22,700 passengers is recorded compared to 2016. In scheduled flights, the development showed a small minus of 0.4% or approx. 3,370 passengers. In the charter sector, there were approx. 17% or 19,348 passengers.
The development of freight
In a joint venture with Swissport Cargo Services Austria, the combined freight volume increased by around 21% year-on-year to around 19,000 tonnes.
While pure airfreight stagnated at -2.8%, the overall turnover of Swissport Cargo Services Graz GmbH was substantially increased by additional services in the area of land-side freight forwarding handling.
Outlook for the summer of 2018:
We are currently still working on the summer flight program, but many details are already certain:
NEW:
- Scheduled flight to Berlin, once a day except on Saturday, six times a week from the end of March with SkyWork Airlines
- Charter chain to Thessaloniki
- Charter chain to Monastir
IN THE PROGRAM AGAIN AFTER A ONE YEAR BREAK:
- Charter chain to Antalya
- Charter chain to Ibiza
TOTAL SCHEDULED FLIGHTS
Amsterdam, Berlin, Birmingham, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Munich, Palma de Mallorca, Stuttgart, Vienna, Zurich
CHARTER CHAINS TOTAL
Antalya, Brac, Burgas, Chania, Heraklion, Hurghada, Ibiza, Kefalonia, Corfu, Kos, Marsa Alam, Monastir (new!), Paros, Rhodes, Skiathos, Thessaloniki (new!), Thira/Santorini, Zakynthos
SHORT CHAINS AND SPECIAL FLIGHTS
Bari, Bastia, Catania, Dubrovnik, Exeter, Glasgow, Ivano-frankovsk, Lakselv, Larnaca, Lourdes, Madeira, Malta, Moscow, Naples, Palermo, Paphos, Porto, Riga (new!), Rome, Shannon (new!), Stockholm, Tel Aviv (new!), Tbilisi (new!), Vilnius.
The current status of the Summer Timetable 2018, which starts on Sunday, 25th March, is available here:
http://www.flughafen-graz.at/en/flug/flug-reiseinfo/sommerflugplan.html
The numbers in comparison:
| Volume | 2017 | 2016 | Changes in % |
| Total volume - passengers | 959,166 | 981,884 | - 2.3% |
| Scheduled services - passengers | 862,491 | 865,861 | - 0.4% |
| Chartered services - passengers | 96,675 | 116,023 | - 16.9% |
| Total volume - movements | 14,466 | 14,435 | 0.2% |
| Movements scheduled | 12,760 | 12,660 | 0.8% |
| Movements charter | 1,706 | 1,775 | - 3.9% |
| Total freight (in tons) | 18,902 | 15,637 | 20.9% |