Feldkirchen bei Graz, 03.05.2023: By stationing an Airbus A319 at Graz, Eurowings has made Graz its new aircraft base with immediate effect.
The aircraft with the registration number “9H-EXQ” was ceremonially welcomed this morning with a water salute from the airport fire department, and was received on the apron by airport CEO Wolfgang Grimus, together with Eurowings Europe Managing Director Stefan Beveridge and political and tourism representatives. The fully booked flight EW4516 then took off from Graz at 11:10 towards the some Egyptian sun in Hurghada.
Graz is the second Eurowings base in Austria after Salzburg, and the eleventh base in the whole of Europe. Stationing an Airbus at Graz Airport thus forms part of the leading value carrier’s growth trajectory, and is a further milestone in Eurowings’ pan-European expansion.
“We are delighted to be further expanding our presence at Graz Airport by stationing an aircraft here, and bringing more Eurowings to Styria”, says Eurowings Europe Managing Director Stefan Beveridge. “Our expansion is based on our strong partnership with Graz Airport and TUI Austria, and represents a clear commitment to Graz as an air traffic location and to the region as a whole.”
Being centrally situated, the stationing of an efficient and modern Airbus in Graz not only strengthens the popular connections to Southern Europe, but also brings Northern Germany closer to Styria– which is particularly attractive for business and tourism.
“This impressive expansion makes Eurowings one of our most important local partners”, explains Wolfgang Grimus, CEO of Graz Airport. “With the eleven destinations, four of them new, Eurowings is optimally covering the needs of the Styrian economy and industry, and offering holiday travellers an attractive choice of routes. We hope that today’s aircraft stationing is the prelude to further expansion in the future.”
“Networking Styria internationally also requires the corresponding infrastructure. The opening of the new Eurowings base at Graz Airport enables direct connections to four new destinations, and thus strengthens our location. Our aim is to continuously forge ahead with the internationalisation of our federal province and develop it further”, says Werner Amon, Minister for European and International Affairs, Education, and Human Resources of the State of Styria.
City councillor Manfred Eber: “It is pleasing to see that our partner of many years and German airline Eurowings is placing great trust in Graz Airport by establishing one of its bases with us and expanding its flight programme. This decision not only strengthens Graz as an economic location, but also Graz Airport, which counts as one of the most important airports in Southern Austria.”
“The airport is of great importance for the Graz economy”, states city councillor Günter Riegler. “More than 200,000 foreign passengers used the Airport in the last year – roughly half of them for tourism and the other half for business. It is very pleasing that the cooperation with Eurowings is now once again being clearly expanded. Berlin and Hamburg in particular, with flights on Fridays and Sundays, are real tourism connections which invite travellers to spend a weekend break in Graz. And naturally it is also an attractive option for the people of Graz too!”
CEO Wolfgang Malik, Holding Graz: “Our flight connections to Germany are highly volatile on the basis of a variety of developments. However as the representative of the owners I can look optimistically to the future, not least thanks to the new Eurowings base in Graz and the associated additional new connections. As one of the largest regional airports in the Alps-Adriatic region, with Berlin our airport in Graz will in future offer an expanded selection of popular connections in Europe, and the forthcoming new Hamburg connection will bring the north of Germany closer to Styria as an attractive destination for business and tourism. I am confident that with its multifunctionality Graz Airport will soon once again join the top tier as a regional airport with many international connections.”
Eurowings expands flight programme from Graz
Eurowings is significantly expanding its presence at Graz Airport, and in summer 2023 is widening the selection of attractive destinations for direct flights. With the new destinations for Graz of Chania (Crete) and Larnaca, as well as Hurghada, Karpathos, Corfu, Kos and Rhodes, the programme now includes seven destinations in the popular holiday countries of Greece, Egypt and Cyprus. In addition, the holiday island Mallorca will be served three times a week from Graz.
“We tour operators are very pleased that the flight programme from Graz can be significantly expanded for summer 2023”, says Gottfried Math, Managing Director TUI Austria. “The cooperation with Eurowings enables to greatly increase our capacities on the existing connections to Mallorca and Rhodes, which will thus be served 3 times a week. The destination airports Larnaca on Cyprus and Chania on Crete are entirely new to the programme from Graz. The new Eurowings base at Graz Airport makes attractive flying times possible and creates connections at the highest quality level.”
As well as expanding its routes to the south, Eurowings is also reinforcing its range of city links to Germany: so since the end of March the Lufthansa subsidiary has connected the Styrian capital to Berlin up to five times a week, and from 5 May will be flying to the Hanseatic city Hamburg up to four times a week. Together with the eight weekly connections to Düsseldorf, this means travellers from Graz can now choose from three German city destinations.
“North Germany is very exciting as an economic region and a holiday source market, and with this new flight connection it is finally coming closer”, says Michael Feiertag, CEO Steirische Tourismus und Standortmarketing GmbH happily.
Programme expansion in the Winter 2023/24 flight schedule too
In addition, part of the Winter 2023/24 flight schedule from Graz has already been published. In the winter months too, Eurowings is offering two connections a week from Graz to Hurghada. There will also be flights to the Canaries – twice a week to Gran Canaria and once a week to Tenerife. Links to German cities are also going to be added to the winter flight programme in the new few weeks.
