Klagenfurt Airport

Klagenfurt is an airport for people who like small things. A few kilometers from Lake Wörthersee, only a handful of scheduled flights land on a normal day – an Austrian feeder from Vienna, a Eurowings Airbus from Cologne, a Ryanair 737, a SkyAlps turboprop. In between, rescue helicopters, glider pilots and private aircraft take off. Anyone spotting here needs patience and a look at the schedule, but gets a relaxed day with an Alpine backdrop in return. Behind the quiet operations, though, lies an eventful history: hardly any airport in Austria has seen as many ups and downs – from the low-cost boom through the plunge in passenger numbers to the controversial privatization and buyback.

From military airfield to Klagenfurt Airport

The roots of the airport lie in 1914, when a military airfield was established in Annabichl north of the city. It became civilian in the 1920s: in 1925, the Kärntner Luftverkehrsgesellschaft was created with the help of the City of Klagenfurt and banks. In 1927, Österreichische Luftverkehrs AG took over operations, and scheduled flights went from Klagenfurt to Venice, Ljubljana and Vienna. The location in the south of Austria, close to Italy and present-day Slovenia, thus shaped the airport from its earliest days.

With Austria’s annexation (Anschluss), the German Luftwaffe took over the airfield in 1938. After World War II, it took until 1951 for Klagenfurt to be released for civil aviation again. The actual expansion into a modern commercial airport began in 1958: an 1,800-meter concrete runway, an apron, a terminal building and a tower were built. In 1964 lighting for the approach, runway and taxiways was added, and in 1965 the runway was lengthened by 600 meters to 2,400 meters. On September 11, 1971, the first proper passenger terminal opened, and in 1981 the runway reached its present length of 2,720 meters.

In 1984, Klagenfurt counted more than 100,000 passengers in a year for the first time. The 1990s brought a new equipment hall with a fire station, its own connection to the A2 Southern Motorway (Südautobahn) and a new arrivals hall. From early 2004, a Category II/III instrument landing system was available – an important step for an airport where fog in the Klagenfurt Basin is no rare guest.

Boom and bust: the low-cost years

In the 2000s, Klagenfurt experienced its heyday. Low-cost airlines discovered Carinthia as a destination for vacationers and as an inexpensive departure airport for the region. Carriers such as Germanwings, Air Berlin, easyJet and Transavia flew to Klagenfurt, joined by Ryanair, which expanded its offering once more at the end of 2008. In 2005, the airport reached its record of around 522,000 passengers, which still stands today.

The flip side: an airport that depends heavily on a few budget carriers is vulnerable. In the following years, several carriers withdrew, and in November 2013 Ryanair also ended its connections at the time. Passenger numbers fell significantly – in 2015 there were only around 228,000, in 2019 around 209,000. The pandemic then hit the already weakened airport hard: in 2020 fewer than 50,000 passengers came, in 2021 even fewer. Since then it has slowly been going up again, and in 2025 Klagenfurt stood at around 175,000 passengers.

The figures come from publicly available traffic statistics; depending on the source, they differ slightly in the last digits. How other small airports with a thin schedule work is described in the post Spotting at small regional airports.

The privatization: Lilihill and the buyback

No topic has occupied Klagenfurt Airport in recent years as much as the question of its ownership. For a long time, the operating company belonged entirely to the public sector – 80 percent to the Province of Carinthia, 20 percent to the City of Klagenfurt. In view of falling passenger numbers, the province looked for a private partner that would bring capital and new ideas. In 2017, a partial privatization was put out to tender Europe-wide. The conditions: an investor and operator takes the majority, while the province and city keep a blocking minority of 25 percent so they can keep having a say in important decisions.

In mid-April 2018, the Klagenfurt-based Lilihill group of entrepreneur Franz Peter Orasch won the bid. Even the award was politically controversial: opposition politicians demanded that the award procedure be made public. Lilihill subsequently presented plans for developing the airport grounds and in 2022 even announced a regional airline of its own called Liliair. Flights, however, were never bookable, and an operating airline was never confirmed.

Meanwhile, conflict grew between the majority owner and the public sector. At its core, the question was whether the airport was developing as agreed at the time of privatization. In 2023, the Province of Carinthia and the City of Klagenfurt finally exercised a contractually agreed buyback option and took back the majority in the airport; by fall 2023 the airport was fully in public hands again. Lilihill had already declared in spring that a home base for Liliair in Klagenfurt had become unlikely because of the dispute.

Today the airport’s website again names only public owners: 80 percent is held by the province’s Kärntner Beteiligungsverwaltung, 20 percent by the City of Klagenfurt. Because the ownership structure has changed several times in recent years and reference works partly give differing information, it’s worth checking the Austrian commercial register (Firmenbuch) for an exact status.

One main runway in an east-west direction

The layout is easy to grasp. The paved main runway 10L/28R runs in an east-west direction and is 2,720 meters long and 45 meters wide. In scheduled traffic, mainly narrowbody jets such as the Airbus A320 and turboprops land here. The Category II/III instrument landing system exists only for landings on 28R, that is, for approaches from the east. Parallel to it lies a 710-meter grass runway used exclusively for visual flights. The airport also has a glider landing field and a heliport.

Which direction is currently active is decided by the wind – aircraft take off and land into it. With a west wind, landings are on 28R, that is, with an approach from the east over the Klagenfurt Basin; with an east wind, on 10L with an approach from the west from the direction of Lake Wörthersee. Because only 28R has an instrument landing system, approaches in poor visibility generally come from the east. The basics are explained in the post Understanding runway direction at airports, and with flight tracking via ADS-B you can see live where the next aircraft is coming from.

Who lands in Klagenfurt today

The most important scheduled flight is the connection to Vienna. Austrian Airlines flies, according to the airport, up to several times a day to Vienna Airport, linking Carinthia to the network of the Lufthansa Group. Which type operates the rotation changes with the schedule; for short feeder routes, Austrian has regional jets such as the Embraer E195 in its fleet, among others.

There are also several city connections. Eurowings flies two to three times a week to Cologne/Bonn Airport, now year-round according to the airport. Ryanair is back after its withdrawal in 2013: according to the airport, it goes to London Stansted and, in summer, up to five times a week to Palma de Mallorca. The South Tyrolean regional airline SkyAlps connects Klagenfurt with Rome Fiumicino – the route also runs in winter – and, in the winter season, with Hamburg Airport. In summer, charter flights are added, for example with Avanti Air on behalf of a tour operator to Paros and Skiathos.

For turboprop fans, SkyAlps is the most interesting guest: the airline flies the Dash 8-400 – a turboprop that offers a nice change in the photo album from the ubiquitous jets. Ryanair uses the Boeing 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8 on its routes, Eurowings aircraft of the A320 family. How to tell the various short-haul types apart is shown in the posts Telling the A320 family apart and Identifying regional jets.

Schedules change particularly fast in Klagenfurt – individual routes come and go with the change of season, and with such a small offering, every change has a big impact. So look at the airport’s current departure and arrival board before every visit.

Helicopters, military and general aviation

Because scheduled traffic is so thin, other users make up a large part of the operations in Klagenfurt. Since July 1, 2001, the ÖAMTC air ambulance helicopter Christophorus 11 has been stationed at the airport and flies its missions from here. The police maintain their own building at the airport, and general aviation with private pilots, flight schools and glider pilots is present too.

Exciting for military fans: the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer) operate a helicopter base in Klagenfurt. It opened in May 2011, was temporarily closed at the end of 2015 and put back into operation in April 2017. The hangar has room for two Black Hawks – or, if needed, for two Eurofighters. You shouldn’t expect regular fighter jet movements in Klagenfurt, though; the Austrian Eurofighters are stationed in Zeltweg, where the AIRPOWER airshow also takes place. If you want to identify helicopters reliably, you’ll find help in the post Helicopter spotting.

An unusual event now takes place every year: at the Airport Night Run, the runway becomes a running track for an evening. In September 2026 the event took place for the third time already, with well over a thousand participants.

Spotting in Klagenfurt: observation deck and planning

The easiest way in is the observation deck on the first floor of the terminal. According to the airport, from there you have the best view of the apron and runway; it is open daily during operating hours – on weekdays from early morning until late evening, on Sundays from 7 a.m. Whether fees or special rules apply is not stated in the airport’s public offering; ask directly if in doubt. How other Austrian decks compare is shown on the spot pages for the Salzburg observation deck, the Innsbruck deck and the Vienna observation deck.

Official photo gaps in the fence like at Graz Airport are not known for Klagenfurt. Anyone who wants to take photos outside the deck looks for locations on public paths around the grounds – and always stays outside of barriers. What applies legally in Austria is summarized in Plane spotting in Austria, and tips for clean pictures at the fence can be found in Photographing through the fence.

In Klagenfurt, planning is decisive. With only a few scheduled flights a day, a badly chosen time can mean you see only light aircraft for hours. Conversely, it is hardly possible to miss a movement once you know the schedule.

To identify Austrian aircraft, the post on OE registrations helps you. And if you want to understand who pulls the strings in Carinthian airspace, read the overview of Austro Control and Skyguide – the tower in Klagenfurt is operated by Austro Control and is attached directly to the terminal.

Getting there: close to the city and easy to reach

A big advantage of Klagenfurt is its location. The airport is only about four kilometers north of downtown and can be reached in several ways. City bus line 4 connects it with the center and the main train station, and the stop is opposite the arrivals hall. By suburban rail you ride to Klagenfurt Annabichl and walk about 750 meters from there. By car you reach the airport via its own interchange on the A2 Southern Motorway (Südautobahn); the airport offers parking right at the terminal. And because the terrain is flat, you can also comfortably get there from the city by bike.

Klagenfurt compared

Within Austria, Klagenfurt plays in the smallest league of commercial airports. Vienna Airport is Austrian’s hub and offers long-haul, Graz Airport has many times the passengers and official photo gaps in the fence. Salzburg Airport lives strongly off winter charter traffic, Innsbruck Airport offers demanding approaches between the mountains, and Linz Airport is shaped by cargo.

A look across the border is also interesting. Ljubljana Airport is not far away, and as early as the 1920s scheduled aircraft flew from Klagenfurt to Ljubljana and Venice – today Venice Airport is also easy to reach. Anyone planning a spotter tour through the Alpe-Adria region can combine several of these airports. And for even more Austrian aviation history, a side trip to the Aviaticum in Wiener Neustadt is worthwhile.

Conclusion

Klagenfurt Airport is a small place with a big history. From the military airfield in 1914 through the early routes to Venice and Ljubljana, the low-cost boom of the 2000s and the deep fall after it to the privatization to the Lilihill group and the buyback by province and city, Klagenfurt has experienced more than many a bigger airport. Today an Austrian feeder to Vienna, a handful of city connections and seasonal leisure flights shape the picture, complemented by helicopters and general aviation.

For spotters, Klagenfurt is not a destination for large quantities, but for quiet, easily planned hours with mountains in the background. The observation deck provides the overview, and bus and suburban rail get you there quickly. Anyone who clarifies schedule, wind and light beforehand won’t miss a single movement here.