Vienna. The current occupancy rate at Vienna Airport is around ten percent of the pre-crisis level, said airport board member Julian Jäger on Thursday at the presentation of the balance sheet for 2020. And, as expected, it turned out to be deep red. The number of passengers fell by 75 percent in the first year of the corona pandemic – to 7.8 million passengers. Around the same level that Vienna Airport had in 1994.
This was also noticeable in the balance sheet. Sales fell by 61 percent to 333.7 million. And despite a savings package of 200 million euros, instead of a profit of over 180 million euros, as originally expected, there was a loss of 75.7 million euros.
Only slow recovery expected
For this year, the airport is hoping for an increase in travel to a total of around 40 percent of the volume of 2019. And the recovery is also expected to be slow in the coming years. In 2022 it is hoped that it will be around 70 percent of the pre-crisis level, and around 80 percent in 2023. “The instrument of short-time work must therefore continue to be available,” demands Günther Ofner, board member of the airport. “At least until the end of 2022.” According to the current regulation, short-time work should expire this June. It is currently not foreseeable whether it will be extended again. However, when he took office in January, Labor Minister Martin Kocher said that short-time work was “not a permanent instrument”.
Without short-time work, there will be a wave of layoffs
If there was no extension, there would probably be terminations. Not only at the airport, but also in the entire tourism industry, which is about “tens of thousands of jobs”, says Ofner. With short-time working, he hopes that the airport will be able to reduce its current workforce from around 5200 to the target level for 2023 of around 4700 to 4800 employees through natural fluctuation.
However, a prerequisite for the recovery of business is also the early freedom to travel for people who have been vaccinated, are immune due to a recent illness or have recently been tested. “Permanent restrictions for generally healthy people cannot be justified legally, politically or ethically and morally,” says Ofner. He appeals to politicians to find a solution for a digital vaccination certificate as soon as possible – if possible, a uniform EU solution. Austria should form a “coalition of the willing” with other tourism countries in order to convince reluctant countries such as Germany.
Vaccination for airport employees planned for April
At the airport itself, it is expected that employees will receive the vaccination in April. Since politicians no longer want to give priority to critical infrastructure, they are now only in phase 3. Ofner, however, hopes that the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson will accelerate the number of vaccinations. So far, the airport has carried out around 200,000 PCR tests for its employees.
Recent surveys have shown that people want to go back to the ice. More than 200,000 PCR tests carried out since May of the previous year. “The travel needs of Austrians are very high. A third want to fly abroad by plane in the summer or autumn, ”says Ofner. And here you can easily check at check-in whether someone is immune or at least not infected, adds Jäger. “After the attacks of September 11, 2001, we got used to the fact that it goes without saying that you should be examined for weapons at the airport. In future it will be a matter of course that the health status will also be checked. “
This year Vienna Airport wants to create “a black zero” again. The southern extension and the third runway were pushed back indefinitely.
