10. 08. 10. - 15:00

VIA shamed by car park fees study

Vienna International Airport (VIA) has the highest car park charges among more than two dozen aerodromes, it has been revealed.

Price comparison and holiday service website travel24.com said today (Tues) it had found VIA to be the most expensive when it comes to fees for one week’s parking among 28 airports all over the world.

The website explained VIA’s 588-Euro fee was significantly more than travellers had to cough up at London-Heathrow (156 Euros) or New York’s JFK Airport (96 Euros).

The website however also pointed out that VIA’s weekend offer of 82 Euros reached a midfield position in international comparison.

VIA is located near Schwechat in the province of Lower Austria. It is Austria’s biggest airport and an important hub for European air traffic.

The airport’s earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) increased by nine per cent year on year to 27.4 million Euros in the first quarter of this year. Turnover edged up by 1.3 per cent to 123 million Euros.

VIA had 3.89 million passengers between January and March 2010, up by 6.3 per cent year on year.

Peter Malanik, co-chief of Austrian Airlines (AUA), recently complained the standard of service for passengers at VIA had decreased dramatically over the past few years. He added that the airport was still one of the most expensive for airlines in Europe.

VIA officials dismissed the criticism, but stressed they hoped for a continuation of the "good cooperation" with AUA, its most important business partner.

Aviation experts meanwhile expected the number of AUA flights at VIA to decline during the coming years due to other priorities of the airline’s new owner, German firm Lufthansa.