When the English British Airways announced they were taking up the route Salzburg London Gatwick again in 2000 the schedule world at Salzburg Airport which had been seriously wounded by the stopping of Lauda flights, seemed to be in order again.

Yet just 12 months later there was another change of management at British Airways. Salzburg also fell victim to the cut backs. At the same time Ryanair knocked on the Airport management’s door. Within the shortest possible time a package was agreed upon between Ryanair, the provincial tourist board and the airport and by the beginning of April 2001 Salzburg Airport became the first destination for Ryanair in Austria. This move was also the first time an Austrian airport had dared to venture in the business field of the so-called Low Cost Airlines. Almost 100,000 passengers were registered in 2001 and after the 2nd daily flight was introduced in 2002 the figure rose to more than 200,000 passengers. This figure far exceeded the expectations of the tourist manager for the Salzburg region.

The local economy is being significantly strengthened through incoming tourism. It has also been possible to develop a source of traffic from East Europe in addition to the main areas of Great Britain and Scandinavia. Russia and Poland are both hopeful markets and are making a positive development in their contribution to the whole traffic movement at Salzburg Airport. It can be assumed that the constant integration process in the EU will lead to a flourishing ski tourist industry. As Salzburg Airport was the only Austrian airport, which managed to show an increase in passengers in 2001 the airport management have been able to report another increase of 4% for 2002. For the first time the record of 1.3 million passengers has been broken. An increase of 3% has already been forcast for 2003.