Graz Airport will see a restructuring of its tourist flight schedule in the upcoming winter season. The leisure airline Corendon Airlines will take over the flight connection between the Styrian capital and the Egyptian resort of Hurghada on the Red Sea.
As the airport management announced on June 29, 2026, the route will be served with two weekly rotations on Mondays and Wednesdays during the winter season. Departure time from Graz is scheduled for 14:00 PM. Christian Hein, Sales Manager at Corendon Airlines, confirmed the acquisition of the route, which strengthens the company's presence in the Austrian market, where it operates at a total of five commercial airports.
The restructuring of the flight connection became necessary due to the short-notice withdrawal of Eurowings from this route. For Graz Airport, under the management of CEO Wolfgang Grimus, the swift change of operator secures the charter business for the winter season, as Egypt is traditionally one of the most popular destinations for local passengers during the colder months. Corendon Airlines, founded in 2004 and headquartered in Antalya, Turkey, with a Maltese subsidiary for European route rights, already operates two weekly flights from Graz to the Greek island of Crete during the summer months.
Aviation analysts view the frequent changes of airlines at smaller regional airports as a symptom of a volatile market environment. Consolidation in the European leisure flight segment is increasingly forcing regional airports like Graz to react flexibly to capacity shifts by major airlines. Since airlines heavily base their fleet planning on the short-term booking data of large tour operators, individual tourist routes always carry the risk of sudden cancellations if economic expectations or package holidays fail to achieve the desired margins. For passengers, the switch to Corendon Airlines means retaining their flight option, but also a change in service and fare structures compared to the previous provider.
Furthermore, industry experts point to the geopolitical and economic risks in North Africa. Experience shows that flight bookings to Egypt are sensitive to regional instability in the Middle East, which represents a constant uncertainty for leisure airlines. The long-term stability of the connection from Graz therefore depends not only on the cooperation between the airport and the Corendon Group, but also significantly on consistently high demand in the price-sensitive holiday segment in light of rising fuel costs and airport fees.