The Austrian aviation industry is looking back on a record year. According to current surveys by Statistics Austria, the country's six commercial airports – Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz, Linz and Klagenfurt – handled a total of 36,5 million passengers in 2025.
This represents an increase of 2,8 percent compared to the previous year and marks the highest value ever recorded in the history of Austrian aviation. Remarkably, the complete recovery from the global crisis of previous years has been achieved: the previous record level from 2019 was exceeded by 0,8 percent. At the same time, the number of flight movements in scheduled and charter services rose to 279.677 takeoffs and landings, representing an increase of 3 percent compared to 2024.
Despite the passenger boom, the balance sheet shows downward trends in other sectors. The average load factor per flight fell slightly to 131 passengers, representing a decrease of 0,3 percent. The logistics sector experienced more significant losses: freight volume fell by 3,7 percent to 248.211 tons, while airmail even recorded a decline of 4,5 percent to 5.147 tons. This development contrasts sharply with passenger traffic and illustrates a shift in economic priorities at airport locations. In international comparison, neighboring Germany is still lagging behind: although passenger numbers at its 22 main airports rose by 3,9 percent to 207,2 million, Germany remains far from reaching the pre-crisis level of 2019.
For Austria's most important airport, Vienna-Schwechat, the outlook for 2026 is darkening. After a peak of 32,6 million passengers in 2025, the board expects only around 30 million customers in 2026. This projected decline is largely due to fleet reductions at Austrian Airlines and capacity cuts by low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air. While Wizz Air is leaving Vienna entirely, Ryanair is significantly reducing its aircraft base. These changes in the market landscape could weaken Vienna's dominance as an Eastern European hub in the short term and lead to a realignment of market shares.
In 2025, regional airports in Austria's federal states benefited in part from strong winter tourism and new city connections, but continue to struggle with the strong trend toward centralization in the direction of major hubs. While Salzburg and Innsbruck are stabilized by international demand, the situation remains challenging at smaller airports like Linz and Klagenfurt due to reduced domestic air traffic. The industry is now closely monitoring whether the consolidation of airlines in 2026 can be offset by new providers or increased frequencies from other partners, in order to maintain Austria's record-breaking performance in the long term.