Austrian Airlines and its home hub, Vienna Airport, ended 2024 on a high note following strong industry growth and an effective dual hub strategy.
Figures from Vienna Airport have November cargo throughput 23.5 percent higher than the same month last year at 27,134 tons. It’s also not a blip like year-to-date figures, so without a buffer, December is up 21.6 percent on the same January to November period last year at 272,921 tonnes.
Which is more Viennese things will continue next year.
“Yes, we expect high volume in January due to the e-commerce boom over Christmas and further due to the usual high demand before the Chinese New Year, which is already on January 29,” said Michael Zach, Senior Vice President Ground Handling & Cargo Operations of Vienna Airport.
In terms of products moved, the most relevant goods are general cargo (mainly automotive, machinery) from Europe to the North Atlantic. Pharma and temperature-sensitive goods in the life sciences “play an important role,” Theresa Schlederer, director Austria at Lufthansa Cargo added at the end of November.
“We are seeing some e-commerce from the EU to the US on Austrian Airlines flights, but to date these are limited volumes when referring to Austrian Airlines belly flights,” she added.
The key to the success of both Austrian Airlines and Vienna Airport is their ability to connect those routes to other destinations, both long-haul and short-haul overland – the second part of the dual hub.
The airport offers fast transfer times based on its 24/7 operational readiness, with no night flight restrictions for Chapter lll aircraft. Ten category F aircraft parking spaces for Boeing 747 and Antonov 124 near the terminal buildings help to make its connection, as do 76 scheduled airlines serving 240 worldwide destinations.
On the ground, Vienna Airport is connected to Europe’s network of air cargo road feeder services, meaning that consumer and business centers in Central and Eastern Europe are quickly accessible. Belgrade is 752 km away, Bratislava only 62 km, Berlin 634 km and Budapest, the current darling of Chinese investors, 266 km.
“We can connect Asia and North America and offer our customers very fast connections within the different markets. In addition to our flight network, we are able to offer our customers a dense truck network across Europe, connecting all important European business locations,” added Schlederer.
Cargo handling facilities are located within the bonded warehouse of Vienna Airport and have direct access to the apron, speeding up the flow of goods between aircraft and shipper. Modern systems and software guarantee optimal integration of all partners such as airlines, airports, customs and transport companies.
Positively like Austrian Airlines it is also aware, like the rest of the industry “unforeseen global events challenge us in our daily business,” Schlederer said. “Another aspect is the current rather slow economic growth in Europe. For us as a business, our hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Brussels are a big advantage in offering our customers fast transit times. We see this in a positive development of imports, especially from Southeast Asia,” she added.
Lufthansa gives some limited elaboration and precious few hints about how it might develop in the future.
“The e-commerce market is constantly growing as well as the demand for it in Europe and North America. This is also shown in our current freighter network with up to 50 frequencies to 17 destinations in Asia plus up to 16 destinations, which we serve with stomach capacity,” said Schlederer.
As well as e-commerce, pharmaceutical and life science shipments are becoming increasingly important with Vienna as an airport aiming to be a pharmaceutical hub. Lufthansa is well placed to benefit from this with almost 30 CEIV certified stations worldwide and modern Pharma hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna or Chicago.
“Of course, we also seize the opportunities for pharmaceutical transport in Vienna with a very good cooperation with the stakeholders on the site, especially industries and forwarders, to find well-suited solutions for our customers, e.g. as additional services or customized solutions for specific use cases. In general, we see a high expertise for special products in Vienna (also emergency, automotive, etc.) and a continuous growth in the partnerships with our customers in complex supply chain network operations,” added Schlederer.
This growth is driven by additional flights and the resulting increase in capacity. For example, Qatar Airways Cargo has operated a weekly service between Vienna and Doha since September. The Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines also returned to Vienna at the end of May.
“The increasing number of airlines that have chosen us as a reliable cargo location, and in particular the 45 percent growth in belly cargo, confirms our importance as a key logistics hub between Europe and Asia,” says Julian Jäger, joint CEO and COO from Vienna Airport.
