Klagenfurt Airport

Klagenfurt Airport (Flughafen Klagenfurt and occasionally Kärnten Airport, ) is a primary international airport near Klagenfurt, the sixth-largest city in Austria. It is located in the borough of Annabichl, north-north-east of the city centre. In 1905, Georg Count of Khevenhüller from Hochosterwitz Castle and in 1907 Dipl.-Ing. Joseph Sablatnig (Joseph Sablatnig was owner of the Fokker-Sablatnig, Deutsche Flugzeuge, Deutsche Motoren, Flugzeug Gesellschaft mbH, Berlin) were the first men in the sky over Carinthia and Klagenfurt. In World War I and II, the airport of Klagenfurt was operated as a military airfield, and indeed Klagenfurt Airport was founded in 1914 as a military airport. The civil opening of Klagenfurt Airport on 17 May 1925, was an event for the City of Klagenfurt as well as for Carinthia. In June 1929, the pilot hero of World War I, Julius Fedrigoni Edler von Etschthal, has the function of flight director of the airport until 1939. After the end of World War II, Julius Fedrigoni was returned to Annabichl, he worked with low-budget flight operations. On 1 January 1952, Korv. Kpt. Julius Fedrigoni founded the Committee city of Klagenfurt and he was flight director until 1956. From 1926 to 1938, seven airlines operated from Klagenfurt Airport. Countries like Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and of course domestic flights to all major cities in Austria were connected with Klagenfurt. In the spring of 2014, the airport's home carrier, Austrian Airlines, announced the closure of their ticketing and service counters at Klagenfurt Airport due to decreasing demand. Services were instead to be provided directly at the check-in counters. In April 2015, Austrian Airlines also announced that a closure of their domestic route to Vienna was under consideration within the next few years based on economic reasons. In the same year, the state government announced plans to partly sell its stakes in the airport to private investors.