With a passenger increase of around 12% last year, Graz Airport is positioning itself for the future.
Feldkirchen bei Graz, 14.01.2025: Last year around 820,000 passengers used Graz Airport for their business or private travel, 86,000 more than in 2023. This development is fuelled above all by the charter segment, which is up by 31%, while the scheduled flight segment achieved growth of around 6.5%. Following the record year 2023, cargo showed a slight drop of around 3.6%. With this result, and the flight submissions that have already taken place for the summer flight schedule, Graz Airport expects the positive trend to continue.
“Graz Airport is continuing its upward trend”, says Wolfgang Grimus, Managing Director of the airport, delightedly. “The figures clearly show that there is still a strong urge for travel in the private segment. Unwinding by the sea, discovering a new country or a new city is a dream that many people enjoy fulfilling. At the same time, more and more foreign holidaymakers are coming to Styria by air. In contrast, the business travel segment is still cautious in terms of travel behaviour; the challenging situation in the economy and industry both regionally and Europe-wide is reflected here and in the cargo figures. The opening of the Koralm Railway at the end of 2025 will further strengthen the role of Graz Airport as the gateway to the world for the economy, industry and tourism of Austria’s “Area South”.”
“We have taken some major steps, not just on the ‘airside’, but on the ‘land side’ too”, states Jürgen Löschnig, Managing Director of Graz Airport. “We have had great success in terms of the environment in particular. The new additional PV system on the roof of the parking garage has been generating electricity since December, while by switching from diesel to HVO 100 and constructing fixed ground power supply points for the aircraft we are continuing our consistent reduction of CO2 emissions. The new self-service corner run by cafe+co in the arrivals area also offers high-quality catering round the clock.”
City Councillor for Participation Manfred Eber: “Graz Airport is an important intersection for our city. It not only connects the people of Graz with the world, but also strengthens the economy and tourism here in our provincial capital. The positive figures from 2024 show how essential the airport is for the international connections, economic strength and the attractiveness of our city as a location. I also find the endeavours around sustainability noteworthy, such as the new PV system on the parking garage roof and the consistent reduction of CO2 emissions in the everyday running of the airport.”
Wolfgang Malik, CEO Holding Graz and representative of the owner: “I am delighted that the leading airport in southern Austria is continuing its ‘ascent’. With the increase in passenger numbers, Graz Airport is once again underlining its position as a major economic and tourism hub. Especially with the upcoming opening of the Koralm Railway at the end of 2025 and the completion of the Semmering Tunnel, the airport will have the one-of-a-kind opportunity of being located at the hub of one of the most dynamic economic areas of Central Europe.”
Development in 2024 in detail:
Scheduled and holiday flights:
613,644 passengers selected a scheduled flight for their business or holiday travel, a 6.5% increase on 2023. 205,629 passengers flew off on holiday by charter flight, which was 31.1% more than in 2023.
A total of 10,251 flight movements were recorded in scheduled and charter traffic, corresponding to an increase of 6.2%. The utilisation of aircraft capacity rose once again, as it did in 2023.
Cargo:
At 18,700 tons, total cargo fell just 3.6% short of the record result in 2023.
General aviation:
In the general aviation area, with 30,714 departures and arrivals, a drop of around 8.3% was recorded, which can mainly be ascribed to a decline in commercial flights and training flights.
7 scheduled destinations, including 5 major hub airports: Berlin (5x/week), Düsseldorf (5x/week), Frankfurt (27x/week), Hamburg (4x/week), Munich (20x/week), Vienna (20x/week), Zürich (5x/week)
16 holiday flight destinations: Antalya, Brač, Calvi/Corsica, Heraklion/Crete, Hurghada, Karpathos, Kefalonia, Corfu, Kos, Larnaca, Las Palmas/Gran Canaria (until the end of April and from the start of October), Palma de Mallorca, Paros, Rhodes, Skiathos, Tenerife (until the end of April) New: From Easter, Palma will be directly accessible from Graz. In total around 30 more departures for Mallorca are planned than in 2024.
Single flight/short-haul destinations: Dalaman (new!), Malta (new!), Palermo (new!), Paphos, Riga (new!), Tivat, Valencia
As of the current state of planning, in total there will be direct flights from Graz to 30 destinations in 14 countries.
“In particular, the density of flights that we offer to the 5 major hubs means that around 190 destinations worldwide can now be conveniently reached with just one flight connection”, emphasises Wolfgang Grimus.
