Vienna Skylink opening delayed

Nicole Mezzasalma

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Flughafen Wien said it expects minimum rental income of €23m ($34.1m) from the Skylink terminal’s tenants

Vienna International airport authority Flughafen Wien said in its half-year results presentation that the opening of the new Skylink terminal, originally scheduled for the first half of 2009, has been delayed due to “additional requirements from public authorities as well as the optimization of the retail and gastronomy concept”. The company is now considering the possibility of opening the terminal in stages. German retailer Gebr Heinemann won the competitive tender to operate two walk-through duty-free stores at the terminal in June, as previously reported by DFNIonline.

Flughafen Wien also said it expects the Skylink costs to increase to €657m ($974.9m), but it added that the expected minimum rental income from the tenants occupying the 52 retail and food and beverage outlets in the new terminal will be €23m ($34.1m), “45% more than estimated at the start of the tender process”. The airport authority said the increased income will be generated mainly by the redesign and optimisation of the retail space. “Including the revenue from the space currently available at the airport, we forecast a total significantly in excess of €40m ($59.4m) per year”, the company said.

The airport authority’s revenue rose by 13.7% to €272.7m ($404.6m) in the first six months of 2008 compared with the previous corresponding period. Net profit was up by 15.1% to €50.5m ($74.9m) and EBITDA increased 10.7% to €104.4m ($154.9m). Non-aeronautical revenues grew 15.6% to €71.9m ($106.7m), while revenue from retail and gastronomy operations rose by 11.4% compared with the same period in 2007.

Vienna International airport recorded traffic increase of 12.8%, handling about 9.7m passengers in the first half of 2008.