After a strong summer in 2022, the signs at Vienna-Schwechat Airport are also pointing to further growth for low-cost carriers. Although the number of destinations at Ryanair has fallen slightly in direct comparison with the same period last year, the number of weekly flights has increased by more than ten percent.

The Ryanair Group members Malta Air, Lauda Europe and Buzz each have a base at Austria's largest airport. The three airlines operate the aircraft deployed from Vienna for the low-cost carrier. The aircraft type Boeing 737-800 is provided by Malta Air and Buzz and Lauda Europe uses Airbus A320 aircraft. B737 Max 200s stationed at other airports also fly to Vienna on a selective basis. A total of 19 aircraft are in use from the Austrian airport.

A lot was still planned under the Lauda brand in the summer of 2020, but the corona pandemic threw a spanner in the works. The subsidiary airline at the time was actually supposed to be consolidated as a second brand, but due to the challenges of the crisis, the decision was made to bundle and market the range of flights under the Ryanair brand.

In the current 2023 summer timetable, frequencies have been increased to over 30 routes. When asked about this, Ryanair manager Andreas Gruber explains that they are concentrating on strengthening the existing routes and have therefore made significant increases in frequencies. In concrete terms, this means that the low-cost airline is offering more flights to destinations that are particularly popular. Destinations such as Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, ​​Ibiza, London and Milan are frequented. Gruber hints that there will be new goals at a later date. Ryanair operates more than 800 flights a week from Vienna and expects more than 6,3 million passengers from Austria this year.

Three summer destinations from Carinthia, one from Salzburg

In Austria they are also active from Klagenfurt and Salzburg. Previously, the carrier also offered flights from Linz and Graz. Only from Innsbruck there were no regular flights under the FR code on offer. In the past, only the Lauda brand was used here. Nothing will change that any time soon, but a comeback in Styria, which was promised a year ago, is still in the air. There is no specific date yet, but it is known that airports are in regular contact with Ryanair.

“Ryanair works closely with its local partners to ensure further growth and constantly expand the offer. As a result, Ryanair already has a market share of over 20 percent in Austria,” says Andreas Gruber.

The comeback in Klagenfurt, which took place in the 2022/23 winter timetable, came as a complete surprise. When withdrawing a few years ago, the then Ryanair press officer justified this with an “outrageous increase in fees on the part of the airport”. Now they have come together again and will be flying from Carinthia Airport to Palma de Mallorca, London-Stansted and Alicante in the summer of 2023. There is no local competition, as it is the only airline that offers international connections in regular scheduled operations. In principle, one can imagine that with Ryanair, if the flight destinations are successful, other destinations could also be included. But you don't want to be seen in the cards.

From Salzburg, Ryanair is offering flights to London-Stansted in the 2023 summer timetable. The carrier is traditionally more strongly represented at this airport in the cold season. This is also the case with other airlines, because some only have the city of Mozart in their program in winter. The simple reason for this is that Salzburg is in much greater demand during the cold season than in summer due to the numerous winter sports areas. For the coming year, however, Ryanair does not want to rule out the possibility of operating further routes from Austria and especially from Salzburg.

Summer flights heavily booked

Notwithstanding the recent everyday price increases, Ryanair is seeing strong demand, particularly during the summer holiday season. On some dates, flights to popular holiday destinations are almost fully booked or about to be. Manager Andreas Gruber therefore advises: “Book your holiday flights with Ryanair as soon as possible, because the planes are getting fuller by the day. Many flights are already fully booked."

In terms of the number of passengers carried, the Alpine Republic is number two behind Austrian Airlines. The ambitious goal has been set that Ryanair wants to overtake AUA in this discipline in the next few years. "We will become Austria's number one airline," forecasts Gruber.

Short-haul routes have to pay for emission allowances, but long-haul routes do not

Just a few days ago, the EU Parliament decided that airlines should no longer receive free emission certificates in the future. However, this does not apply to long-haul flights, as these are still not subject to emissions trading. This is seen as unequal treatment on the part of Ryanair. “Long-haul traffic produces significantly more carbon dioxide emissions than short- and medium-haul routes, on which Ryanair, for example, uses modern, low-emission aircraft. Flights within the EU that emit less carbon dioxide are charged, but you don't have to pay a cent for flights to the USA with ancient machines," says Andreas Gruber. Around 50 percent of Europe's carbon dioxide emissions come from long-haul flights, even though they only account for XNUMX percent of passenger volume.

Another example in this direction is the Austrian ticket tax. This burdens flights on short and medium-haul routes arithmetically significantly more than on long-haul routes. In addition, transfer passengers are generally excluded. “Point-to-point passengers have to pay, but someone who flies from place A via Vienna to place B does not, although their journey also leaves pollutants behind and the economic added value of this passenger for Austria does not exist,” explains Gruber. "We demand that the use of modern, low-emission aircraft be rewarded and that revenue from ticket taxes be used for research and development for the decarbonization of aviation. The government and the EU should make targeted investments in research and development projects. In this way, Europe and Austria could certainly gain a head start for the future”. At the moment, the proceeds from the ticket tax flow directly into the federal budget and are not earmarked. The Ministry of Finance has never given any information about the exact use.

Ticket prices will be higher in the future

In general, however, passengers also have to be prepared for higher prices with Ryanair. “The days of tickets in the single-digit euro range are over. Ryanair will not be nearly as outrageously expensive as the competition, but everyday increases in prices will not leave the aviation industry unscathed either,” predicts Andreas Gruber. “The promotional price for one-way flights excluding additional services will level off at 'from 29,99 euros'. The number of bargain tickets is significantly lower with an enormously high demand at the same time. Of course, there will always be promotions, just like in the supermarket, but for the 2023 summer vacation you should book your flights with Ryanair as soon as possible, because as I said: Demand is very high and aircraft only have a limited number of seats".

If nothing comes up, Ryanair will carry more passengers than ever before from Vienna in 2023. "However, this does not only apply to Vienna, but to the entire Ryanair route network, in which more than 185 million passengers are expected in the current financial year," says Gruber.