Austrian Airlines CEO Annette Mann criticized the high costs of operating in Austria, saying the country is “the second most expensive aviation market in Europe after Germany — that says a lot.” She made the comments Thursday while presenting the company’s latest business figures for fiscal year 2025. Mann did not call solely for abolishing or reducing the aviation tax, as Vienna Airport or Ryanair have done, but rather for a “strategy and long-term vision for Austria’s aviation sector into the 2030s.”
It is the combination of costly factors that reduces profitability and drives low-cost airlines to scale back or leave Vienna, Mann said. These costs are also “problematic” for Austrian Airlines. Beyond the aviation tax, she cited “comparatively high security costs,” adding that Vienna Airport “is not a cheap one.” Overflight fees are expensive, and fuel storage costs are the highest in Europe.
“In total, we need to ensure that we develop a national aviation strategy,” Mann said in an interview with APA. The airline is in close contact with the airport and the government. Together with the Ministry of Transport, she said, a medium- to long-term strategy will “hopefully” be developed. Austrian and its parent company Lufthansa remain committed to Austria and the Vienna-Schwechat hub.
Commitment to the location despite high costs
“These problematic costs need to come down,” Mann said. Austrian Airlines is taking the lead with its planned expansion. As a network carrier, however, it cannot simply relocate its base like low-cost airlines — “and we have no intention of doing so.”
“We are sticking to our fleet renewal program,” Mann emphasized. “But the operating conditions must change substantially in the coming years.” Austrian is investing upfront by acquiring new aircraft — 27 will be replaced or newly added by the end of the decade, with a small increase on long-haul routes. “If we find in the future that jets cannot be operated profitably because conditions don’t improve, then we’ll have to reassess.”
For now, she said, the outlook is positive. The addition of two more aircraft next summer “should be seen by our local partners as a genuine signal: our goal is to keep investing and growing.”
No joy over low-cost carriers leaving Vienna: “Quite the opposite”
Why isn’t Austrian Airlines pleased when competitors like Ryanair or Wizz Air reduce their Vienna-based aircraft or withdraw completely? That would be a misconception, Mann said. “Five fewer Ryanair aircraft stationed here doesn’t mean there’s less capacity to and from Vienna. They just fly in from cheaper airports and remain competitors from lower-cost locations. That doesn’t help us — quite the opposite.” Wizz Air has already withdrawn entirely.
In global competition, location costs matter. “We want to fill our long-haul flights and need transfer passengers from all over Europe. If connecting through Vienna is more expensive than through other hubs, that hurts us — it limits growth.” For crucial transfer traffic between the Middle East and North America via Vienna, Mann hopes the region will stabilize soon. Flights to Tehran are set to resume on November 1.
Airport “cost reduction” only a return to normal fees
Asked about Vienna International Airport’s recently announced “cost reduction,” Mann said it was not a true reduction. “The airport is merely returning to normal rates. It had higher fees as a post-COVID effect. In reality, it’s just adjusting to the legal standard.”
Financial results
In the key third quarter, Austrian Airlines’ revenue fell 4 percent to 754 million euros, while operating profit (EBIT) declined 14 percent to 118 million euros. Passenger numbers rose 1 percent to around 4.7 million, and load factor improved by one point to 88.2 percent. Across the first three quarters, EBIT remained stable at 74 million euros compared to the previous year. At the end of the first half of 2025, the airline had posted a loss of 44 million euros. Nine-month revenue totaled 1.93 billion euros, up 4 percent year-on-year.
