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SKI RUN TO INNSBRUCK

By Heiko Stolzke

The instrument approach to this airport in the Tirol Alpine region demands absolute precision: the runway of the winter sports resort lies between two 3000m mountains and is itself at an altitude of 600m. The valley bottom is not even 10km wide. To the right and left of the airfield the slopes are densely lined with buildings.

"Despite the difficult approach we are getting more and more popular. Today Innsbruck is the home base for three regional airlines," says airport director Reinhold Falch. Air Alps Aviation, Tyrolean Airways and Welcome Air are all based in the Tirolean regional airport. While Austrian Airlines subsidiary Tyrolean has been operating out of Innsbruck for over 20 years, the other two carriers only established operations at Kranebitten airport in 1998 and 2000.

Innsbruck airport owes its growth to the powerful commitment of Tyrolean. In the 1960s and 1970s there were virtually no airline connections. The airport was not equipped for instrument approaches so that the airfield developed more and more into a fair weather sports flying centre. It was not until the Winter Olympics of 1976 provided a boost to investment that Innsbruck got an instrument approach system.

Today, as well as scheduled flights to Graz, Maastricht or Rotterdam, Innsbruck's flight schedule is dominated by feeder connections. Thus, Tyrolean flies several times a day to the Star Alliance hubs in Vienna-Schwechat and Frankfurt Rhine-Main, and there are twice daily bus services to Munich. On the other hand Air Alps serves the KLM hub in Amsterdam.

"The scheduled business provides a solid basis - but in the winter months it gets quite chaotic," says Falch, explaining the economic potential of the airport. Between December and April there is an atmosphere in Innsbruck on Saturdays rather like the atmosphere in Tempelhof during the Berlin Airlift. "Normally we handle between 1500 and 2000 passengers a day, but on Saturdays in the winter months this rises to between 10,000 and 12,000." Even Boeing 737s and Boeing 757s take on the 2000m long runway in the ski season, when the number of movements rises from around 50 a day to 140.

In order that airport staff and passengers are not overwhelmed among all the baggage and sports equipment, the airport management team has devised an ingenious mode of handling them. Thus, conventional bags make their way in the normal way from the aircraft to the baggage claim conveyor belts in the terminal. By contrast, the sports equipment is conveyed by baggage trolley directly from the hold to a specially erected ski check-in counter in front of the terminal building. "If they were to try feeding a classic baggage sorting and conveying system with skis or snowboards it would end in chaos," says Falch.

Most of the ski tourists come from the United Kingdom, "a stable and good growth market," in Falch's view. But these days winter sports enthusiasts also come from as far afield as Scandinavia and Russia to go skiing. Charter passengers do not just come to Innsbruck for the skiing, but in the summer months a lot of Austrians use the airport as the departure point for sunny holiday resorts in the Mediterranean.

To remain ahead of the onslaught, the airport building in Innsbruck is currently undergoing modernisation. The arrivals hall and check-in counters were reorganised in 2000. "Now it is the turn of the central terminal building, which dates back to 1964," says Falch.

As the airport lies within the Innsbruck city confines, noise protection is a high priority for the airport operating company. "The airport has been accepted by the population - we all benefit here from the tourist industry. But even so, we cannot accept extremely loud aircraft," asserts the airport director. To enforce the noise protection requirements, Falch's style is to enter into dialogue with the airlines rather than imposing threats. In the meantime only Finnair still flies to Innsbruck on a handful of services with a noisy MD-82 - otherwise all the airlines have converted to quieter jets and turboprops. Home carrier Tyrolean flies the Dash-8 on its routes to Innsbruck. Air Alps and Welcome Air use the Dornier 328.

Innsbruck has a good reputation not only among the ski tourists, but the airfield is also popular among private pilots and glider pilots. Falch plans to continue reconciling the interests of both aerosports and commercial aviation. "Gliders and Airbuses are equally welcome here."

From page 74 of FLUG REVUE 3/2002