Currently, it seems all roads lead to Vienna, the Austrian capital. This is certainly the case with many European low fare operators, as well as other airlines from further afield. Following the demise of NIKI and airberlin, which both had considerable capacity out of Vienna, there has been strong growth by LCCs and the Lufthansa Group. Benefitting from its historically significant geographic location, Vienna has for some time been a market of mystery for many. Regarded for many years as a gateway to small niche markets in Central and Eastern Europe, the airport had a perception of above average yields, regional jet services, and an almost secret collection of airlines operating there. However, things are changing very quickly. In 2017 Vienna Airport handled 24.4 million passengers - up by 4.5 million on the previous year, as data from the airport shows. Also, data from air travel specialists OAG highlights a significant growth trend. "Consistently within the top twenty European airports based on scheduled capacity, Vienna is the adolescent that never grows up, having ranked between thirteenth and nineteenth over the last ten years,"observes John Grant, Senior Analyst at OAG. Grant says 2018, however, looks like a year of significant change, with year-on-year capacity growth of over 9% making the airport the second fastest growing amongst the top 20 airports in Europe, with Lisbon in first place.
展开▼
