Flughafen Wien AG, the operating company of Vienna Airport, and Austrian Airlines, are extending the contract for ground handling.
The agreement encompasses the entire aircraft handling on the airport apron, such as boarding and deboarding support with buses and passenger stairs, the loading and unloading of baggage and catering, cleaning of aircraft cabins and aircraft towing. Thanks to this contract extension, Vienna Airport and Austrian Airlines have secured the high level of quality in the long term with respect to the punctuality of flight operations, the reliability of baggage handling as well as competitive and favourable terms and conditions.
According to the annual punctuality statistics of the international aviation institute Official Airline Guide, Vienna Airport ranks among the top 20 airports worldwide and Austrian Airlines is one of the most punctual airlines in the world. At the same time, Vienna Airport also concludes multi-year handling agreements with the airlines Lufthansa and SWISS.
“High-performance ground handling at the airport is essential for the punctuality and reliability of our airline customers at the Vienna Airport site,” said Julian Jäger, member of the management board of Flughafen Wien AG.
“The demands imposed upon personnel capacities, the performance of the staff and the speed of handling are very high. In a partially liberalised market, ground handling is particularly subject to cost and competitive pressure. That is why it is even more gratifying that we have succeeded in concluding a competitive and future-oriented agreement with the Lufthansa Group and Austrian Airlines as our main customer and largest carrier at the airport site.”
“An airline is only as efficient as its airport,” said Heinz Lachinger, CFO of Austrian Airlines. “For this reason, I am not only pleased with the good cooperation in handling about 370 aircraft per day with 33,000 passengers, but also that we have found a suitable commercial framework for our system partnership.”
Ground handling is essential to the quality of airlines and airports. There is frequently little time from landing to the take off of an aircraft again. Within about 25-30 minutes, all passengers have to leave the aircraft via passenger bridges or stairs, the aircraft cabins have to be cleaned and new catering has to be brought to the plane.
Moreover, baggage has to be unloaded and reloaded again, and the new passengers have to enter the airplane.
In order to complete these tasks quickly and reliably, the airport requires many good and well-trained employees in ground handling.
The Ground Handling segment at Vienna Airport is the largest single business area of Flughafen Wien AG, with about 2,000 employees.
Each day approximately 60,000 passengers and just as many items of luggage are handled at Vienna Airport, which ranks as a leader in Europe with a minimum transfer time of 25-30 minutes in the Star Alliance.
On the basis of this contract extension, Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines confirm the high service and quality standards at Vienna Airport, which is in turn reflected in the high punctuality levels achieved. According to punctuality statistics for 2016 of OAG, Vienna Airport ranks among the top 20 airports worldwide and Austrian Airlines is currently the most punctual airline in the world.
Passenger handling such as check-in and other activities are not included in the agreement. These tasks will continue to be carried out by Austrian Airlines itself, as in the past.