Amid steep declines in passenger numbers, Linz Airport (LNZ), a regional gateway in northern Austria and just 40 minutes to the Czech border, may be the subject of a public-private partnership (PPP) rescue, according to several local news sources.

LNZ is facing a crisis following Austrian Airlines’ decision to stop the vital Frankfurt route. The move by the Lufthansa-owned national carrier will decimate already weak traffic for the rest of the year. The last flight on the route was on October 25.

Data from Statistics Austria for 2024 indicate that LNZ was already in a precarious state. While the country processed 35.5 million passengers through six main airports, a 7% increase, it was not a level playing field. There was strong growth at Vienna and Salzburg airports, allowing them to exceed 2019 passenger numbers by 0.2% and 4% respectively, but Tobias Thomas, Director General of Statistics Austria, noted that the picture for the remaining four gateways was very mixed.

Innsbruck registered a 4.9% decrease to 0.9 million passengers; Klagenfurt saw a 10.2% decline, and Linz crashed by 22.5% to 180,485 passengers. Only Graz grew strongly, by 11.7%.

Lossmaking for Five Years

LNZ is jointly owned by the City of Linz and the State of Upper Austria, but has been operating at a loss for five years, with reserves nearly depleted, according to Aviation Direct. However, an entrepreneur, Manfred Zorn, from the federal state of Upper Austria, together with a consortium, has proposed a partial privatization of LNZ in which the consortium takes control of the City of Linz’s 50% share and injects cash into the airport.

The Zorn plan keeps Upper Austria as the other shareholder, but crucially, it will rely on the participation of multiple entities in Upper Austria also taking a stake. According to reports, up to 100 companies can acquire 1% of the consortium for €40,000, which would raise €4 million.

The aim, then, is to modernize the airport and make it more efficient through the digitalization of handling, logistics, and customer service processes. The freight business would also be a target for expansion, especially if local export businesses have direct involvement.

A Decision is Awaited

The PPP plan has been presented to city and state officials, but it is currently under review and a decision has not been announced.

In the meantime, the current owners of LNZ are looking to rebuild routes for the summer 2026 flight schedule, including replacement airlines for the connection to Frankfurt. Approval from the European Union is likely to be sought because routes with fewer than 100,000 passengers per year can operate under a ‘public service obligation’ (PSO) and therefore access state support.

The EU Regulation 1008/2008 accommodates this type of subsidy where maintaining scheduled air services is deemed critical to a region’s economic and social development, often in places that are remote, underserved, or low-traffic areas. It involves a public tender for the routes concerned.