Klagenfurt Airport

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.

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.

Already in the years 1926 to 1938, seven airlines operated from Klagenfurt Airport. Countries like Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and of course domestic flights to all major cities in Austria were connected with Klagenfurt. After 1950, the airport was connected with countries like Brazil, Israel, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and others.

Recent developments

In spring 2014 the airport's home carrier Austrian Airlines announced the closure of their ticketing and service counters at Klagenfurt Airport due to decreasing demand, additional services will be instead provided directly at the check-in counters.^[3] In April 2015, Austrian Airlines also announced that a closure of their domestic route to Vienna is under consideration within the next few years based on economic reasons.^[4] In the same year, the state government announced plans to partly sell its stakes in the airport to private investors.^[5]

As the airport suffered from a major decrease of passenger numbers in recent years it has been 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.^[6] However, Austrian Airlines stated later that the airport is not sufficient for cargo operations due to noise complaints and the night curfew.^[4]

In October 2015, the Austrian military announced to shut down their entire operations and helicopter base at Klagenfurt Airport by the end of 2015.^[7]

Traffic figures

Traffic by calendar year. Official Statistics

	Passengers	Change	Aircraft operations	Change
1980	82,151	-	3,083	-
1990	148,062	80.23%	5,209	68.96%
2000	235,503	59.06%	8,325	59.82%
2005	522,697	121.95%	8,907	6.99%
2010	425,933	-18.51%	7,482	-16.00%
2011	375,307	-11.89%	6,451	-13.78%
2012	279,045	-25.65%	4,576	-29.07%
2013	258,421	-7.39%	4,262	-6.86%
2014	224,846	-12.99%	3,920	-8.02%
2015	227,625	1.24%	3,922	0.05%
2016	193,709	-14.90%	3,392	-13.51%
2017	216,905	11.97%	3,700	9,08%
Source: Klagenfurt Airport's official website[10]

Train

The train station "Klagenfurt-Annabichl" is at a 5–10 minutes (750 meters) walking distance from the terminal and offers suburban rail services every half-hour to St.Veit (and beyond), to Klagenfurt central 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.

Citations

Bibliography

• Flughafen Klagenfurt, Paul Posch, P. 1995 Magistrat der Landeshauptstadt, Klagenfurt, Abt. Kultur, 182 p.  ISBN 3-901591-00-1