Klagenfurt Airport

Klagenfurt Airport (Template:Langx Template:Airport codes) is a primary international airport near Klagenfurt, the sixth-largest city in Austria. It is located in the borough of Annabichl, Template:Convert north-north-east of the city centre.<ref name="AIP"/>

History

Early years

In 1905, Georg Count of Khevenhüller from Hochosterwitz Castle and in 1907 Dipl.-Ing. Joseph Sablatnig (Joseph Sablatnig was owner of the Fokker-Sablatnig, Deutsche Flugzeuge, Deutsche Motoren, Flugzeug Gesellschaft mbH, Berlin) were the first men in the sky over Carinthia and Klagenfurt.Template:Citation needed

In World War I and II, the airport of Klagenfurt was operated as a military airfield, and indeed Klagenfurt Airport was founded in 1914 as a military airport. The civil opening of Klagenfurt Airport on 17 May 1925, was an event for the City of Klagenfurt as well as for Carinthia. In June 1929, the pilot hero of World War I, Julius Fedrigoni Edler von Etschthal, has the function of flight director of the airport until 1939. After the end of World War II, Julius Fedrigoni was returned to Annabichl, he worked with low-budget flight operations. On 1 January 1952, Korv. Kpt. Julius Fedrigoni founded the Committee city of Klagenfurt and he was flight director until 1956.Template:Citation needed

From 1926 to 1938, seven airlines operated from Klagenfurt Airport. Countries like Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and domestic flights to all major cities in Austria were connected with Klagenfurt.Template:Citation needed

Decrease of operations

In the spring of 2014, the airport's home carrier, Austrian Airlines, announced the closure of their ticketing and service counters at Klagenfurt Airport due to decreasing demand. Services were instead to be provided directly at the check-in counters.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 2015, Austrian Airlines also announced that a closure of their domestic route to Vienna was under consideration within the next few years based on economic reasons.<ref name="OSstatement"/> In the same year, the state government announced plans to partly sell its stakes in the airport to private investors.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As the airport suffered from a major decrease of passenger numbers in recent years, it was suggested by the management to establish major logistics and cargo operators here, which might be supported by the freight shipment operations handled at the relatively closely located harbours of the Adriatic Sea. The airport already features road and rail connections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, Austrian Airlines stated later that the airport would not work for cargo operations due to noise complaints and the night curfew.<ref name="OSstatement">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In October 2015, the Austrian Air Force announced it would end all operations and close its helicopter base at Klagenfurt Airport by the end of 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Developments since 2020

In August 2020, Ryanair announced plans to leave the airport and terminate their route to Palma de Mallorca Airport, which had been operated as a wetlease by Lauda.<ref>austrianaviation.netTemplate:Dead link (German) 27 August 2020</ref> However, Ryanair returned with four destinations in 2023.<ref name=frreturn/>

In 2022, the airport's then majority owner, Lilihill Group, announced the creation of a new regional airline based in Klagenfurt, Liliair. With a proposed launch in April 2023, the carrier was supposed to expand the airport's connection with major European destinations. However the announced flights were not open for booking for any date on or before the day of the launch and no operating carrier had been confirmed.<ref>austrianwings.info 17 April 2023</ref> Previously there was ongoing controversy between Lilihill and the state of Carinthia, which proposed to buy back the airport, leaving the Liliair project in doubt.<ref>aerotelegraph.com 10 March 2023</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 2023, Lilihill Group announced that a Liliair home base in Klagenfurt has become unlikely due to the ongoing dispute.<ref>aerotelegraph.com - "Liliair flies in severe turbulence" (German) 28 April 2023</ref> In May 2023, the city of Klagenfurt and the state of Carinthia announced it would execute a buy-back option and re-acquired majority ownership of the airport after longstanding debate.<ref>kleinezeitung.at 14 May 2023</ref>

Facilities

Klagenfurt Airport consists of one small passenger terminal building which features some shops and restaurants as well as a visitors terrace. The apron provides several stands for mid-sized planes such as the Airbus A320 as well as smaller general aviation aircraft. As there are no jet bridges, buses are used for boarding.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines offer year-round and seasonal scheduled and charter flights at Klagenfurt Airport:<ref name="KLUofficial">klagenfurt-airport.at - Flugplan (German) retrieved 22 September</ref>

The nearest larger international airport is Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport in Slovenia, approximately Template:Convert to the south.

Statistics

File:Passenger terminal - Airport Klagenfurt.jpg

Terminal building

File:Klagenfurt Airport - Hangar, General Aviation, Heliport.jpg

Apron view

Traffic by calendar year. Official Statistics

	Passengers	Change	Aircraft operations	Change
1980	82,151	-	3,083	-
1990	148,062	Template:Increase 80.23%	5,209	Template:Increase 68.96%
2000	235,503	Template:Increase 59.06%	8,325	Template:Increase 59.82%
2005	522,697	Template:Increase121.95%	8,907	Template:Increase 6.99%
2010	425,933	Template:Decrease -18.51%	7,482	Template:Decrease -16.00%
2011	375,307	Template:Decrease -11.89%	6,451	Template:Decrease -13.78%
2012	279,045	Template:Decrease -25.65%	4,576	Template:Decrease -29.07%
2013	258,421	Template:Decrease -7.39%	4,262	Template:Decrease -6.86%
2014	224,846	Template:Decrease -12.99%	3,920	Template:Decrease -8.02%
2015	227,625	Template:Increase 1.24%	3,922	Template:Increase 0.05%
2016	193,709	Template:Decrease -14.90%	3,392	Template:Decrease -13.51%
2017	216,905	Template:Increase 11.97%	3,700	Template:Increase 9,08%
2018	228,372	Template:Increase 5.29%	3,566	Template:Decrease -3,62%
2019	209,278	Template:Decrease -8.36%	-	Template:Decrease
2020	49,395	Template:Decrease -23.6%	439	-
2021	29,359	Template:Decrease -59.44%	272	Template:Decrease -61,96%
2022	82,431	Template:Increase 280,77%	664	Template:Increase 244,12%
2023	153,168	Template:Increase 185,81%	924	Template:Increase 139,16%
2024	137,807	Template:Decrease -8,99%	877	Template:Decrease -9,49%
Source: Klagenfurt Airport's official website,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation							CitationClass=web }}</ref> Statistik Austria<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ground transportation

Train

The train station "Klagenfurt-Annabichl" is a 5–10 minutes (750 meters) walk from the terminal and offers suburban rail services every half-hour to St.Veit (and beyond), to Klagenfurt main station, to the villages along Lake Wörthersee, and to Villach (and beyond).

Road

The airport has its own exit named Klagenfurt Flughafen on the nearby motorway A2, which leads to Vienna and Italy. A regular suburban bus service connects the airport with the city centre including the Klagenfurt central station. There is also a coach connection between Klagenfurt Airport and Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport, which is served several times a day.

See also

• Transport in Austria
• List of airports in Austria

References

Bibliography

• Flughafen Klagenfurt, Paul Posch, P. 1995 Magistrat der Landeshauptstadt, Klagenfurt, Abt. Kultur, 182 p. Template:ISBN

External links

• Official website
• Template:NWS-current
• Template:ASN