[slot] co-ordination. Then traffi c began to
slowly shift to day seven, which now has
a considerable peak too. The increasing
availability of high-frequency low-cost
fl ights – and greater fl exibility from local
hoteliers – has meant Monday to Friday
have also grown in importance. Over the
last few years this has made it possible for
us to a ract more passengers throughout
the week. We now get nearly 6,
passengers on some Fridays, for example.”
Many airports in appealing locations
also have a signifi cant business traffi c,
but Innsbruck doesn’t conform to that
model: “We have an absolute focus on
tourism traffi c, be it outgoing in summer
or incoming traffi c in winter. Business
travellers are in a minority here, as tourism
is by far the biggest source of income in
the Tyrol. Almost all of our customers
fl ying for work reasons use the hubs
in Frankfurt and Vienna to go further
afi eld. Our busiest routes to Germany,
Netherlands and the UK only carry a tiny
minority of non-leisure passengers.
“An overwhelming majority of our guests
are coming to take part in sporting activities
on the numerous ski slopes, or they relax
in the sophisticated hotels resorts, such as
St Anton [am Arlberg], Ischgl, Seefeld, theZillertal or Kitzbühel. Innsbruck also has a
variety of cultural landmarks and I estimate
between fi ve and ten percent of visitors are
a racted by those.”Winter operations
Although traffi c has evened out to some
degree, most activity takes place in the
period between Christmas and Easter.
And of course, that is when conditions
can be at their most challenging. Frost
and low temperatures frequently
aff ect the apron and runway surfaces.
Considerable eff ort is applied to mitigate
the eff ects, keeping the operational areas
clear and the aircraft moving safely.
“Runway contamination may infl uence
braking action” explained Sto er. “To
inhibit and prevent the adverse eff ects of
low temperature and precipitation, we use
solid PRO-MELTER [pellets] manufactured
by SP Automotive, and liquid Safeway
KA HOT [an acetate-based solution]
produced by Clariant.”
Eight powerful air-blast sweepers are
used for snow removal, and it takes about
15 minutes to clear the runway and apron
areas of accumulations. But as Sto er
added, not all winters were created equal:
“Central Europe has experienced someABOVE: On busy
weekends, arriving
aircra some-
times have to wait
for a parking stand
to become vacant.
(Daniel Rinner /
Innsbruck Airport)
ABOVE RIGHT:
Austrian Airlines
Bombardier Dash
8-Q402 OE-LGH
taxies for depar-
ture to Vienna.
(AirTeamImages.
com / Moni Shafi r)
RIGHT: A com-
fortable business
lounge off ers
views of the apron
and the dramatic
mountains
beyond. (Peter
Norz - Innsbruck
Airport)
RIGHT: De-icing
aircra is an
essential chore
in the winter.
(Christian Sch Âpf
and Peter Norz –
Innsbruck Airport)INNSBRUCK
Extreme Airports // 1916-21_Innsbruck.indd 19 11/05/2018 14: