Vienna Airport traffic falls in April 2026 amid Middle East crisis and Easter shift

Flughafen Wien Group reported a 2.1% decline in passenger traffic in April 2026, handling 3.68 million travellers across its airports in Vienna, Malta and Košice.

The largest impact was felt at Vienna Airport, where passenger numbers dropped 8.2% year-on-year to 2.58 million travellers. The airport attributed the decline mainly to Easter falling in March this year, reduced low-cost carrier capacity and the ongoing Middle East crisis, which has disrupted regional air traffic since late February.

Despite the weaker April figures in Vienna, the broader Flughafen Wien Group remained in growth territory thanks to strong performances at Malta International Airport and Košice International Airport. Malta Airport recorded a 13.5% increase to just over 1 million passengers, while Košice Airport saw traffic surge 66.5% to 79,181 travellers.

At Vienna Airport, local passenger traffic fell 8.7% and transfer traffic declined 7.2%, while aircraft movements dropped 8.1% to 18,886 take-offs and landings. The seat load factor nevertheless improved by 1.3 percentage points to 82.2%.

The steepest regional decline came on routes to the Middle East, where passenger numbers collapsed 83.4% to just 16,925 travellers due to the ongoing conflict. Eastern Europe traffic also weakened sharply, down 16.7%. By contrast, Far East traffic increased 7.0%, while Western Europe remained relatively resilient with only a modest decline.

For the January–April 2026 period, Vienna Airport handled 8.69 million passengers, down 1.5% year-on-year. However, total passenger traffic across the Flughafen Wien Group still grew 2.9% to 12.02 million travellers.

The company said its full-year 2026 passenger and financial forecasts remain unchanged despite the current operational challenges linked to the Middle East situation.