Construction is set to commence on the expansion of Vienna airport’s Terminal 3 next month.
The extension had originally been scheduled to be unveiled in 2023, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the ground breaking ceremony will now take place on 14 February, with completion set for 2027.
The project will add 70,000 sqm of space to the existing terminal building “including comfortable waiting and lounge areas, additional bus gates and numerous new shopping and restaurant offerings featuring more than 30 new outlets”.
The extension will also enable convenient transfer connections between F, G and D gates, and centralised security checks will also be moved to the new building.
The announcement came as Vienna airport reported the second-highest annual traffic figures in its history, with 29.5 million passengers travelling through the airport in 2023.
London was the most popular western European destination for flights from Vienna last year, with Bangkok, New York and Taipei the top three long-haul destinations.
Commenting on the news Julian Jager, member of the management board of the airport operating company Flughafen Wien AG, said:
“The strong desire to travel emerging after the coronavirus pandemic continued in 2023 and served as the basis for a substantial upswing in passenger volume at Vienna Airport. With 29.5 million travellers, we recorded the second-best passenger results in the entire history of the airport and thus reached 93.3 per cent of the level generated in the record year 2019.
“Despite the high passenger volume, we underlined the high quality of our handling services in an international comparison. Vienna Airport is the most punctual hub in the Lufthansa Group and the third most punctual hub in Europe and is ranked 11th among more than 500 airports included in the Skytrax ratings of the world’s best airports. I would like to particularly thank all employees whose daily commitment is the basis for our high-quality service and reliable handling at Vienna Airport.
“The new Southern Expansion of Terminal 3, on which construction will begin soon and which is scheduled to be put into operation in 2027, will enable us to join the ranks of the top airports across the globe.
“Our international strategic investments in Malta and Kosice airports already surpassed their pre-crisis passenger figures in 2019. We anticipate a normalisation of flight traffic growth rates in 2024. The extraordinarily strong catch-up effect in the past two years following the coronavirus pandemic will slow down in 2024 and we expect a passenger volume of about 30 million travellers at Vienna Airport in the entire year 2024.”