Vienna Airport delivers upbeat outlook for traffic in second half

AUSTRIA. Vienna Airport has said it expects a sharp upturn in passenger traffic in the second half of 2020, assuming “high vaccination coverage rates “ and “uniform travel regulations”.

The airport company (Flughafen Wien) today released its outlook for the year ahead, forecasting 12.5 million passengers in 2021, with 70% of those travelling in the second half of the year. It expects to serve 15.9 million across the group (which includes investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport). These represent about 40% of 2019 figures but are well ahead of 2020 volumes, which reached 7.8 million at Vienna Airport (-75.3% year-on-year) and 9.7 million groupwide (-75.6%).

“EU-wide testing strategies and travel regulations are urgently required to return to a rudimentary freedom of travel and thus set the economy and tourism in motion,” says Vienna Airport

The company said: “2021 will result in an upswing in flight traffic but will remain a challenging time. From today’s perspective, the first three to six months of the year will remain weak, but a substantial increase in passenger volumes is expected starting in the Summer and in the second half of 2021.”

Member of the Management Board Julian Jäger said: “2020 is the most difficult as well as the most bizarre year in airport history. With a total of 7.8 million passengers, we registered a passenger volume we last witnessed 26 years ago, in 1994. The weakest day saw only 154 travellers at the airport.

“The first months of 2021 remain challenging, but an upturn is on the horizon. The vaccine has arrived internationally, and from today’s perspective should result in a significant increase in passenger volumes, particularly starting in the second half of 2021. We anticipate 12.5 million passengers at Vienna Airport, more than 70% in the second half of the year. However, common, EU-wide testing strategies and travel regulations are urgently required in order to return to a rudimentary freedom of travel and thus set the economy and tourism in motion again.”

The group said it plans to be profitable again in 2021. Revenue in 2021 is expected to reach €430 million (€857.6 million in 2019), EBITDA is forecast at €150 million (€384.8 million in 2019) with positive consolidated net profit of €4 million (€175.7 million in 2019). Net debt will likely be reduced to about €100 million. Investments are expected to total around €62 million in 2021. Financials for 2020 have not yet been released.

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