Vienna Airport celebrated its 70th anniversary on Thursday evening. In its first year, Schwechat Airport had 64,211 passengers – that’s how many there are now in one day. About 30 million passengers are expected in the anniversary year of 2024. The previous record was 31.7 million in 2019.
As a kind of birthday present, the agreement between the AUAS board and the union on a new collective labor agreement for the on-board staff was announced during the event.
This is “really great news for the location,” said airport board member Julian Jäger. “I am very happy,” said the mayor and governor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SPÖ), when he recognized the agreement at the AUA. The airport is also “strengthened” as a result.
Contemporary witness: ’40 people at a Christmas party’
Emma Setzer (94) from Fischamend was invited to the anniversary event as a contemporary witness. From 1954 to 1984 she worked at the airport. The first employee recalled that there were “40 people” at the first Christmas party.
It was a “generous gesture” that Britain returned Vienna Airport, then Royal Air Force (RAF) Station Vienna, to Austria in 1954, the ceremony emphasized. Airport board member Jäger looked back on an “incredible journey”. 30 million passengers are “as many as Prague, Budapest and Bratislava have together”.
Investments planned
“We will continue to invest,” Jäger announced. There is talk of four billion euros in the next ten years. The number of passengers is likely to increase to 35 to 40 million per year by then. Jäger mentioned growth, five-star quality and “zero CO2 emissions (Net Zero CO2) by 2033” as the three priority objectives that would be pursued.
Source: Krone
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