The low-cost airline Ryanair has been back in Klagenfurt since November 1, 2022. made the start the resumption of the connection to London-Stansted. The destinations Charleroi, Dublin and Manchester are also offered in the 2022/23 winter timetable.

For some time now, Klagenfurt Airport has been looking for temporary workers on a small basis, which according to job advertisements are needed especially on Saturdays, since most Ryanair flights are to be operated on this day. The hourly wage offered by the handling subsidiary, at 11,83 euros, is not exactly on a scale that would trigger a rush for temporary jobs.

Irrespective of this, Ryanair already had a larger presence in Klagenfurt in the early 2000s. At that time there were extensive subsidies from the state government, which were ultimately declared inadmissible by the European Court of Justice. The same applies to the former Hapag-Llyod-Express/Tuifly/Air Berlin flights. The then DA-CH boss justified the withdrawal from the provincial capital of Carinthia with an alleged “outrageous price increase on the part of the airport”. The reality at the time, however, was that the grants had expired and were not renewed for financial reasons. At that time, the state of Carinthia was in a serious crisis, since a lot of money was literally lost not only in aviation, but also in banking.

Ryanair celebrated a "small comeback" in Carinthia in 2020. A few round trips were made to/from Palma de Mallorca. However, the route was discontinued prematurely because demand was weak due to the pandemic and the Austrian government also introduced test obligations, which at the time was very difficult for private individuals to fulfill due to the lack of (free) offers. So the comeback in Carinthia was only a very short guest appearance.

Low-cost airlines also want to be present in the summer of 2023

But this time it should be different. In the 2022/23 winter timetable, Ryanair will fly twice a week to Charleroi, London-Stansted and Dublin. A weekly Manchester flight will be added from December 2022. They also want to be present in Klagenfurt in the summer of 2023, although company information about the flight plan is still being worked out. What is certain, however, is that London-Stansted is also served in the warm season. Regarding the other destinations, it is only said that "exciting destinations from Klagenfurt" will be presented very soon. The carrier does not want to look deeper into the cards.

For the private majority owner of Carinthia Airport, it should be very useful that Ryanair expects around 54.000 passengers in winter 2022/23. The ÖVP wants to bring about a parliamentary resolution that should enable the call option to be drawn. However, it is completely unclear whether this will find a majority in the state parliament. Apart from the Ryanair flights, the 2022/23 winter flight schedule from Klagenfurt is still quite lean.

In any case, the comeback of the Irish low coster was celebrated on November 1, 2022. The photo gallery below shows some impressions of the resumption of the London-Stansted destination.