Annual Report 2001 - Flughafen Wien

Annual Report 2001
___The fourth quarter decline resulted primarily from a reduction in flights by financially
troubled airlines, and also from measures implemented by the Austrian Airlines Group. In this
context Eva Air countered the general trend, and introduced a fourth flight on the Taipeh-
Bangkok-Vienna route on 2 November 2001.
___The motor for traffic development in 2001 was growth in the number of transfer passengers
(+12.2%) and travellers to Eastern Europe (+11.3%). In this difficult year, we were able to
further expand our position as the major East-West hub. The share of transfer passengers
reached 31.9%, and travellers to Eastern Europe rose to 15.1%. With 36 destinations in
Eastern Europe, we have the most extensive offering on the continent. In comparison, Munich
provides flights to 17 destinations in Eastern Europe, Prague 16, and Budapest 14.
___During the reporting year, 55 airlines (2000: 53) offered scheduled flights from Vienna to a
total of 129 destinations (2000: 138).
Security Level 2 after 11 September
___The events of 11 September represented a major challenge for the Airport Segment. Our
342 employees were able to quickly implement Security Level 2 without a major increase in
waiting time or inconvenience for passengers. We view this experience as an important basis
for further expanding our leading position as a fast, safe and convenient airport. VIE passengers
are satisfied with the airport infrastructure, short transit routes, good logistics and pleasant
surroundings as evidenced by the Service Excellence Award, which we received from the
IATA based on a survey of travellers as second best airport in the world for our category (up
to 15 million passengers).
New Tariff Structure
___An important step for our future development is the new tariff structure, which took effect
on 1 November 2001. We reduced landing fees by 3% and tariffs for long-haul aircraft with
over 125 tonnes (i.e. A 340, Boeing 747) by nearly 20%. This change in fee structure is
designed to create an additional incentive for airlines to include Vienna in their long-haul
schedules. At the same time, we introduced a new regional tariff that will bring carriers
savings of 27% for all destinations within a radius of 600 km as a proactive step to reflect the
planned eastward expansion of the EU. Important for us is the new binding formula (-0.35 x
average growth in traffic + inflation rate), which will be used to adjust tariffs up to 2006.
Investments
___The slower development of traffic during the second and third quarters led us to trim our
investment programme from the planned level of € 60 million. During the reporting year,
investments in the airport segment totalled € 32.6 million. Key projects included the installation
of drainage equipment for taxiways, construction of an office building, and planning for
expansion of the VIE Skylink Terminal.
___We also purchased six new compact runway sweepers, which will speed up snow removal
and can also be used during the summer to clean apron areas.
___We anticipate that the temporary decline in air traffic will have no effect on long-term forecasts,
and are therefore continuing preparations for all projects. Slower traffic growth and the
events of 11 September have led us to re-examine project timetables and, together with our
architect team Baumschlager-Eberle Itten-Brechbühl, we have found a way to optimise processes.
Final decisions on the start of construction for individual segments can now be made
at a later date, which will allow us to fine-tune projects to meet actual demand. By 2006, we
plan to invest approximately € 210 million in the expansion of the terminal. Eight international
bus gates with a value of € 8.2 million are scheduled for completion in 2003, and will provide
additional flexibility for the expansion of capacity.
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