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Three Passenger Records in One Year – Best Month and Busiest Day Ever, Annual Threshold of 23 Million Passengers Surpassed
for the First Time
Vienna Airport set three new records in the year 2016. In addition to the busiest day (September 16, 2016) and the best month ever (July 2016), Vienna Airport surpassed the threshold of 23 million passengers in 2016 for the first time in its history, handling 23.4 million passengers. The Flughafen Wien Group, including its foreign strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport, handled 28.9 million passengers. The outlook for 2017 is optimistic. The Flughafen Wien Group expects passenger growth of between +1% and +3% as well as an increase in revenue, EBITDA and consolidated net profit. The Vienna Airport site anticipates passenger volume to rise by 0% to +2% in the year 2017.
“Geopolitical crisis situations such as in Turkey and Russia also left their mark on the Vienna airport site. However, higher passenger volumes, especially at low cost-carriers such as Eurowings and easyJet, led to a record year at Vienna Airport. The month of December 2016 was particularly strong, showing a 9.8% rise in the number of passengers. Long-haul flight service also developed well. The year 2017 will be very challenging, above all due to the restructuring of airberlin Group. Nevertheless, we expect an increase in the total number of passengers handled by Vienna Airport of 0% to +2% in 2017, especially due to the growth impetus provided by Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and easyJet“, explains Julian Jäger, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG.
“Vienna Airport showed an excellent performance over the past year and will achieve all its financial targets for 2016”, says Günther Ofner, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG. “For this reason, we hold out the prospect of distributing a significantly higher dividend to our shareholders for the 2016 financial year. In order to remain on a success path in the future, we plan to implement a far-reaching investment programme entailing € 1.6 billion in new investments by the year 2025 (excluding investments in Runway 3). The number of people working at the Vienna Airport site has increased. Twelve companies with more than 600 employees have located their business operations at the Airport City or in the vicinity of the airport during the last twelve months. This underlines the great importance of the airport as a job creator for the entire region. In 2017 we will already expand the cargo facilities of the airport, and will construct the new Office Park 4 featuring 20,000 m² of additional office space by the beginning of 2020”, Günther Ofner adds.
Flughafen Wien Group handles 28.9 million passengers (+3.8%) in 2016
The Flughafen Wien Group (Vienna Airport and the foreign strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport) reported 28.9 million passengers in 2016, comprising a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.
Vienna Airport: 23.4 million passengers (+2.5%) in 2016
Vienna Airport reported a total of 23,352,016 passengers in the year 2016, comprising a rise of 2.5% from the number of travellers it handled in the previous year. In particular, new long-haul routes, new flight connections and frequency increases on the part of the airlines, particularly in the low-cost segment, had a positive impact on passenger volume. In contrast, the crisis situations in Russia, Turkey and parts of North Africa negatively affected airport operations. In terms of traffic development, local flight traffic was the key growth driver in 2016, rising by 4.3%, whereas the number of transfer passengers fell by 2.0%. The number of flight movements (starts and landings) remained stable for the most part, dropping marginally by 0.2%, and capacity utilization of the aircraft (seat load factor) fell slightly by 0.8 percentage points to 73.4%. Cargo volume (air cargo and trucking) developed positively in the course of the year, rising by 3.7% to 282,726 tonnes.
Higher passenger volumes to Western Europe, North America and Asia
The number of passengers departing for Western European destinations rose by 3.4% in the year 2016. This was in contrast to a slight overall drop of 0.5% in passenger traffic to Eastern Europe in 2016, although passenger volume to this region recovered somewhat, especially in the second half of the year. The number of passengers flying to the Middle East was up 6.2%, compared to a 0.2% increase in passenger traffic to the Far East. Passenger volume to North America increased by 2.4%, in contrast to the 13.1% decline in the number of passengers flying to destinations in Africa, which is primarily attributable to the crises in Egypt and Tunisia.
Top destinations in 2016: Western Europe - London, Eastern Europe – Moscow, long-haul routes - Bangkok
The highest number of passengers flying from Vienna Airport to Western European destinations was registered by London with 604,168 departing passengers, followed by Frankfurt with 591,631 travellers flying from Vienna Airport and Zurich with 492,252 passengers. Moscow was the most popular destination in Eastern Europe, attracting 208,622 passengers, ahead of Bucharest with a passenger volume of 199,145 travellers and Sofia with 157,415 departing passengers. Dubai was the top destination in the Middle East with 212,457 passengers, followed by Tel Aviv with 166,011 and Doha with 84,961 passengers departing from the airport. Bangkok was the most popular long-haul route, registering 110,959 passengers from Vienna, ahead of Chicago with 68,065 and Taipei with 63,939 passengers.
Austrian Airlines Group accounts for the largest share of passengers
A ranking of the airlines by the number of passengers flying to/from Vienna Airport shows the Austrian Airlines Group in the number one position with 44.5% of all passengers, followed by NIKI with 9.2%, airberlin with a 6.2% share, Eurowings (and Germanwings) at 5.5% and Lufthansa with 3.9%. The top ten airlines at Vienna Airport also include the easyJet Group with an overall share of 2.7% of passenger volume, British Airways accounting for 2.2% of passenger traffic, Turkish Airlines with a 2.0% share, Emirates with 1.8% and SWISS with 1.7% of passenger volume handled by Vienna Airport. In 2016 Vienna Airport was regularly served by 74 airlines, offering flight service to 186 destinations in 72 countries.
Good cargo development: cargo volume up 3.7%
The cargo business at Vienna Airport developed positively in 2016, reporting a total cargo volume (including trucking) of 282,726 tonnes. This represents a rise of 3.7% from the prior-year level. Air cargo alone was up 3.4% to 203,033 tonnes, whereas trucking increased by 4.4% to 79,693 tonnes.
Traffic development of international strategic investments
Malta Airport reported record traffic results in 2016, with the number of passengers reaching an all-time high of 5,080,169 travellers, a rise of 10.0% compared to 2015. Kosice Airport handled 436,696 passengers in 2016, comprising a year-on-year increase of 6.4%.
Predicted passenger development and financial guidance for 2017
The Flughafen Wien Group including its strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport expects an increase in passenger volume in the range of +1% to +3% in 2017. Accordingly, revenue is anticipated to rise to more than € 740 million, and an EBITDA of more than € 315 million is being targeted for the 2017 financial year. From today’s perspective, consolidated net profit should amount to at least € 120 million. Flughafen Wien AG plans to further reduce net debt to under € 350 million and make investments (CAPEX) of about € 100 million in 2017.
The Vienna Airport site expects an increase in the total number of passengers in the range of 0% to +2% in 2017. From today’s perspective, initial impetus to growth is expected to be provided by the launch of flight service to Los Angeles (US), Mahé (SC), Burgas (BG) and Gothenburg (SE) by Austrian Airlines, flights offered to 19 destinations by Eurowings as well as expanded frequencies and new routes on the part of Volotea, Flybe/Stobart Air, Germania, S7 Airlines and SunExpress.
Contact: Corporate Communications of Flughafen Wien AG
Press Office Investor Relations
Peter Kleemann, Company Spokesman Judit Helenyi
Tel.: (+43-1-) 7007-23000 Tel.: (+43-1-) 7007-23126
E-Mail: p.kleemann@viennaairport.com E-Mail: j.helenyi@viennaairport.com
Website: www.viennaairport.com
www.facebook.com/flughafenwien
PeterKleemannVIE
Results in detail: Traffic development in December 2016:
VIE-Results in detail: Traffic development in 2016:
Traffic forecast and financial guidance for 2017:
- 23.4 million passengers (+2.5%) at Vienna Airport in 2016, better than expected – 28.9 million passengers (+3.8%) handled by the Flughafen Wien Group (including strategic investments)
- Forecast for 2017: Passenger growth of 0% to +2% at the Vienna Airport site
- Financial guidance for 2017: Increased revenue, EBITDA and net profit – further reduction of net debt
- Significantly higher dividends expected for 2016
- Major investment programme totalling € 1.6 billion by 2025
- The Airport City is growing: green light for Office Park 4 and expansion of the Air Cargo Center
Vienna Airport set three new records in the year 2016. In addition to the busiest day (September 16, 2016) and the best month ever (July 2016), Vienna Airport surpassed the threshold of 23 million passengers in 2016 for the first time in its history, handling 23.4 million passengers. The Flughafen Wien Group, including its foreign strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport, handled 28.9 million passengers. The outlook for 2017 is optimistic. The Flughafen Wien Group expects passenger growth of between +1% and +3% as well as an increase in revenue, EBITDA and consolidated net profit. The Vienna Airport site anticipates passenger volume to rise by 0% to +2% in the year 2017.
“Geopolitical crisis situations such as in Turkey and Russia also left their mark on the Vienna airport site. However, higher passenger volumes, especially at low cost-carriers such as Eurowings and easyJet, led to a record year at Vienna Airport. The month of December 2016 was particularly strong, showing a 9.8% rise in the number of passengers. Long-haul flight service also developed well. The year 2017 will be very challenging, above all due to the restructuring of airberlin Group. Nevertheless, we expect an increase in the total number of passengers handled by Vienna Airport of 0% to +2% in 2017, especially due to the growth impetus provided by Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and easyJet“, explains Julian Jäger, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG.
“Vienna Airport showed an excellent performance over the past year and will achieve all its financial targets for 2016”, says Günther Ofner, Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG. “For this reason, we hold out the prospect of distributing a significantly higher dividend to our shareholders for the 2016 financial year. In order to remain on a success path in the future, we plan to implement a far-reaching investment programme entailing € 1.6 billion in new investments by the year 2025 (excluding investments in Runway 3). The number of people working at the Vienna Airport site has increased. Twelve companies with more than 600 employees have located their business operations at the Airport City or in the vicinity of the airport during the last twelve months. This underlines the great importance of the airport as a job creator for the entire region. In 2017 we will already expand the cargo facilities of the airport, and will construct the new Office Park 4 featuring 20,000 m² of additional office space by the beginning of 2020”, Günther Ofner adds.
Flughafen Wien Group handles 28.9 million passengers (+3.8%) in 2016
The Flughafen Wien Group (Vienna Airport and the foreign strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport) reported 28.9 million passengers in 2016, comprising a year-on-year increase of 3.8%.
Vienna Airport: 23.4 million passengers (+2.5%) in 2016
Vienna Airport reported a total of 23,352,016 passengers in the year 2016, comprising a rise of 2.5% from the number of travellers it handled in the previous year. In particular, new long-haul routes, new flight connections and frequency increases on the part of the airlines, particularly in the low-cost segment, had a positive impact on passenger volume. In contrast, the crisis situations in Russia, Turkey and parts of North Africa negatively affected airport operations. In terms of traffic development, local flight traffic was the key growth driver in 2016, rising by 4.3%, whereas the number of transfer passengers fell by 2.0%. The number of flight movements (starts and landings) remained stable for the most part, dropping marginally by 0.2%, and capacity utilization of the aircraft (seat load factor) fell slightly by 0.8 percentage points to 73.4%. Cargo volume (air cargo and trucking) developed positively in the course of the year, rising by 3.7% to 282,726 tonnes.
Higher passenger volumes to Western Europe, North America and Asia
The number of passengers departing for Western European destinations rose by 3.4% in the year 2016. This was in contrast to a slight overall drop of 0.5% in passenger traffic to Eastern Europe in 2016, although passenger volume to this region recovered somewhat, especially in the second half of the year. The number of passengers flying to the Middle East was up 6.2%, compared to a 0.2% increase in passenger traffic to the Far East. Passenger volume to North America increased by 2.4%, in contrast to the 13.1% decline in the number of passengers flying to destinations in Africa, which is primarily attributable to the crises in Egypt and Tunisia.
Top destinations in 2016: Western Europe - London, Eastern Europe – Moscow, long-haul routes - Bangkok
The highest number of passengers flying from Vienna Airport to Western European destinations was registered by London with 604,168 departing passengers, followed by Frankfurt with 591,631 travellers flying from Vienna Airport and Zurich with 492,252 passengers. Moscow was the most popular destination in Eastern Europe, attracting 208,622 passengers, ahead of Bucharest with a passenger volume of 199,145 travellers and Sofia with 157,415 departing passengers. Dubai was the top destination in the Middle East with 212,457 passengers, followed by Tel Aviv with 166,011 and Doha with 84,961 passengers departing from the airport. Bangkok was the most popular long-haul route, registering 110,959 passengers from Vienna, ahead of Chicago with 68,065 and Taipei with 63,939 passengers.
Austrian Airlines Group accounts for the largest share of passengers
A ranking of the airlines by the number of passengers flying to/from Vienna Airport shows the Austrian Airlines Group in the number one position with 44.5% of all passengers, followed by NIKI with 9.2%, airberlin with a 6.2% share, Eurowings (and Germanwings) at 5.5% and Lufthansa with 3.9%. The top ten airlines at Vienna Airport also include the easyJet Group with an overall share of 2.7% of passenger volume, British Airways accounting for 2.2% of passenger traffic, Turkish Airlines with a 2.0% share, Emirates with 1.8% and SWISS with 1.7% of passenger volume handled by Vienna Airport. In 2016 Vienna Airport was regularly served by 74 airlines, offering flight service to 186 destinations in 72 countries.
Good cargo development: cargo volume up 3.7%
The cargo business at Vienna Airport developed positively in 2016, reporting a total cargo volume (including trucking) of 282,726 tonnes. This represents a rise of 3.7% from the prior-year level. Air cargo alone was up 3.4% to 203,033 tonnes, whereas trucking increased by 4.4% to 79,693 tonnes.
Traffic development of international strategic investments
Malta Airport reported record traffic results in 2016, with the number of passengers reaching an all-time high of 5,080,169 travellers, a rise of 10.0% compared to 2015. Kosice Airport handled 436,696 passengers in 2016, comprising a year-on-year increase of 6.4%.
Predicted passenger development and financial guidance for 2017
The Flughafen Wien Group including its strategic investments in Malta Airport and Kosice Airport expects an increase in passenger volume in the range of +1% to +3% in 2017. Accordingly, revenue is anticipated to rise to more than € 740 million, and an EBITDA of more than € 315 million is being targeted for the 2017 financial year. From today’s perspective, consolidated net profit should amount to at least € 120 million. Flughafen Wien AG plans to further reduce net debt to under € 350 million and make investments (CAPEX) of about € 100 million in 2017.
The Vienna Airport site expects an increase in the total number of passengers in the range of 0% to +2% in 2017. From today’s perspective, initial impetus to growth is expected to be provided by the launch of flight service to Los Angeles (US), Mahé (SC), Burgas (BG) and Gothenburg (SE) by Austrian Airlines, flights offered to 19 destinations by Eurowings as well as expanded frequencies and new routes on the part of Volotea, Flybe/Stobart Air, Germania, S7 Airlines and SunExpress.
Contact: Corporate Communications of Flughafen Wien AG
Press Office Investor Relations
Peter Kleemann, Company Spokesman Judit Helenyi
Tel.: (+43-1-) 7007-23000 Tel.: (+43-1-) 7007-23126
E-Mail: p.kleemann@viennaairport.com E-Mail: j.helenyi@viennaairport.com
Website: www.viennaairport.com
www.facebook.com/flughafenwien PeterKleemannVIEResults in detail: Traffic development in December 2016:
| December 2016 | ?% | January – December 2016 |
?% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vienna Airport (VIE) | ||||
| Passengers | 1,741,325 | +9.8 | 23,352,016 | +2.5 |
| Local passengers | 1,360,910 | +11.1 | 17,078,214 | +4.3 |
| Transfer passengers | 370,450 | +5.0 | 6,172,666 | -2.0 |
| Flight movements (arrivals and departures) | 16,977 | +3.0 | 226,395 | -0.2 |
| Cargo in tonnes (air cargo and trucking) | 21,835 | -2.2 | 282,726 | +3.7 |
| Malta Airport (MLA. fully consolidated) | ||||
| Passengers | 326,309 | +32.2 | 5,080,169 | +10.0 |
| Local passengers | 324,235 | +31.7 | 5,068,515 | +10.2 |
| Transfer passengers | 2,074 | +179.5 | 11,654 | -32.5 |
| Flight movements (arrivals and departures) | 2,417 | +23.3 | 35,806 | +4.6 |
| Cargo in tonnes (air cargo and trucking) | 1,324 | -21.2 | 14,210 | -5.0 |
| Kosice Airport (KSC. consolidated at equity) | ||||
| Passengers | 29,506 | +14.7 | 436,696 | +6.4 |
| Local passengers | 29,506 | +14.7 | 436,696 | +6.4 |
| Transfer passengers | - | - | - | - |
| Flight movements (arrivals and departures) | 553 | +4.1 | 9,367 | +11.2 |
| Cargo in tonnes (air cargo and trucking) | 5 | -43.1 | 88 | -65.1 |
| Vienna Airport and strategic investments (VIE. MLA. KSC) | ||||
| Passengers | 2,097,140 | +12.8 | 28,868,881 | +3.8 |
| Local passengers | 1,714,651 | +14.6 | 22,583,425 | +5.6 |
| Transfer passengers | 372,524 | +5.4 | 6,184,320 | -2.0 |
| Flight movements (arrivals and departures) | 19,947 | +5.1 | 271,568 | +0.8 |
| Cargo in tonnes (air cargo and trucking) | 23,182 | -3.5 | 297,024 | +3.2 |
VIE-Results in detail: Traffic development in 2016:
| 2016 | ?% vs. 2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers | 23,352,016 | +2.5 | ||
| Local passengers | 17,078,214 | +4.3 | ||
| Transfer passengers | 6,172,666 | -2.0 | ||
| Flight movements | 226,395 | -0.2 | ||
| MTOW in tonnes | 8,653,173 | +3.1 | ||
| Air cargo and trucking in tonnes | 282,726 | +3.7 | ||
| Air cargo in tonnes | 203,033 | +3.4 | ||
| Trucking in tonnes | 79,693 | +4.4 | ||
| Number of departing passengers per region | ||||
| Europe | 10,089,085 | +2.6 | ||
| Eastern Europe | 1,908,559 | -0.5 | ||
| Western Europe | 8,180,526 | +3.4 | ||
| Schengen | 7,277,851 | +2.8 | ||
| EU | 7,797,392 | +4.3 | ||
| Far East | 425,090 | +0.2 | ||
| Middle East | 619,297 | +6.2 | ||
| North America | 333,262 | +2.4 | ||
| Africa | 153,164 | -13.1 | ||
| South America | 12,133 | +11.0 | ||
| Top destinations per region and number of departing passengers | ||||
| Eastern Europe | Moscow | 208,622 | -18.1 | |
| Western Europe | London | 604,168 | +18.0 | |
| Middle East | Dubai | 212,457 | -5.9 | |
| Long-haul | Bangkok | 110,959 | -1.6 | |
Traffic forecast and financial guidance for 2017:
| Traffic forecast for 2017 | Flughafen Wien Group | Vienna Airport (VIE) |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger development | +1% to +3% | 0% to +2% |
| Financial guidance Flughafen Wien Group for 2017 | |
|---|---|
| Revenue | > € 740 million |
| EBITDA | > € 315 million |
| Consolidated net profit | > € 120 million |
| Net debt | < € 350 million |
| CAPEX | > € 100 million |
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