The likelihood that Liliair will take off later this month is getting smaller by the day. To date, there is still no way to buy tickets through the "virtual carrier's" website and the route network still does not match the most recent media release. Now managing director Franz Orasch is even threatening that Liliair will not start at all if the city and state do not wave the agreement on the advance payment through.

In December 2022, Lilihill unveiled plans for its in-house airline to the public for the first time. A Bombardier CRJ-900 was flown in from Malta for this purpose. This was given a corresponding sticker overnight, but only on one side. The livery of the former operator Lufthansa Cityline was still visible on the other. As quickly as the foils were stuck on, they were gone again and the plane that had flown in for the presentation had quickly disappeared from Klagenfurt.

One should also become a launch customer of the Maltese Flite, an offshoot of Mesa Airlines. However, the granting of AOC and operating license for this company has been delayed. Rumors that Marathon Airlines could step in as an operating carrier also died down again. Since Liliair does not have its own certificates, you need an airline that operates the announced flights as a subcontractor. In this context, the media release that Liliair would make an advance payment of 1,7 million euros and that they would like to fly up to eight aircraft from Klagenfurt was quite confusing. The direct contractual partner is always the operating carrier and not the company that commissions the charter flights.

According to reports, the contract, which is designed for 15 years, should be disadvantageous for the airport. There are numerous exit options for Liliair and the airport could face penalties almost double the upfront payment. It is therefore not surprising that the city of Klagenfurt and the state of Carinthia are blocking the release of the agreement in the supervisory board.

This now also has consequences for Liliair, because a spokesman told the "Kleine Zeitung" on Wednesday evening that the virtual carrier will not take off if the minority shareholders continue to block the contract. In other words, if the city and state don't wave the deal through, the Liliair project will be called off.

At the same time, the fact that employees have recently received their wages and salaries late is downplayed. A media officer at the airport spoke to the "Kleine Zeitung" of a "booking error". However, the fact that these were only transferred after receipt of the capital increase by the minority shareholders seems to be worth questioning, because the airport's financial situation is considered to be very tense.