Building work has begun on Vienna Airport’s (VIE) €420 million Southern Terminal Expansion project, with tenant acquisition ‘in full swing’ for its 10,000 sqm retail and F&B offering.

The milestone moment was marked with a ‘groundbreaking’ ceremony on 14 February attended by Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria and Michael Ludwig, Mayor and Governor of Vienna, along with Julian Jäger and Günther Ofner, members of the Management Board of VIE’s airport operating company Flughafen Wien AG.

Tenant acquisition efforts for the new commercial offering, which spans the equivalent of 10 football fields, is enhanced by a virtual 3D tour that allows interested parties to explore the building’s interior areas and possible commercial space.

Prospective bidders can also take a closer look at passenger flows and leisure areas, for a realistic impression of the terminal environment.

As reported by TRBusiness in March 2023, tenant acquisition is expected to be be completed by the end of 2024.

“Our airport is growing, passenger volume is increasing, and we are continuously among the best globally in terms of our service quality. Now we are also upgrading our terminal infrastructure to be top-notch internationally,” said Julian Jäger, joint Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG.

“Thanks to the new Southern Expansion project, we are laying the groundwork for Vienna Airport to join the ranks of the top airports and achieve five-star status.

“In the future, our passengers will experience a substantial improvement of the quality of their stay in a new terminal environment thanks to a considerable enlargement of the shopping and restaurant offering featuring renowned Austrian and international premium brands.

“There will be new and exclusive lounges, large and comfortable leisure areas, new centralised and state-of-the-art security controls, and better transfer connections for transfer passengers between all terminal areas.

“And all of this will take place in an exclusive and high-quality terminal environment making Austrian and Viennese elegance perceptible and palpable in a charming way.

“The Southern Expansion enables us to set new benchmarks in quality and ensure a comfortable stay. This project is yet another airport development milestone following the record results achieved in 2019 and the second highest passenger volume in the airport’s history in 2023.”

More than 30 modern shopping and restaurant concepts are factored into the new commercial offering.

It will enlarge the airport’s shopping and retail space by 50%, to a total of 30,000 sqm.

All will be accessible via a centralised security checkpoint, equipped with the ‘state-of-the-art’ technologies.

The project, which spans 70,000 sqm in total, also encompasses 18 new bus gates (10 for Schengen departures and eight bus gates for non-Schengen departures).

“The Southern Expansion is a key project within the context of our quality and investment drive over the coming years,” commented Günther Ofner, joint Member of the Management Board of Flughafen Wien AG, the board member responsible for overseeing construction.

“After extensive preparation work, the intensive construction phase for the €420 million project will now begin. It will be fully financed from our future cash flows, without the need for any loans.

“Our construction management was completely reorganised in 2012. Since then, it has successfully demonstrated its construction competence within the context of numerous large projects, all of which were finished on time and on budget.

“When it comes to planning and project management, we rely on our high level of competence in leveraging digitalisation and Building Information Modelling (BIM). In this way we can not only monitor the construction process on a daily basis, but also ensure adherence to costs and the planned timetable.

“Completion is scheduled for 2027.”

The construction is being carried out by the ARGE Porr/Elin/Ortner consortium and has been meticulously planned to cater to the complexities of it progressing alongside ongoing airport and terminal operations.

Sustainability plays an important role, with ‘state-of-the-art building technology solutions’ integrated alongside optimised thermal insulation and an insulating façade.

The intelligent building control system will also include efficient ventilation facilities with ‘free cooling’.

The electricity supply will be partly derived from the airport’s own photovoltaic facilities, which will provide about 50 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually starting in 2024.

Main photo caption, from left to right: Julian Jäger, joint Member of the Management Board of the airport operating company Flughafen Wien AG, Michael Ludwig, Mayor and Governor of Vienna, Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Governor of Lower Austria and Günther Ofner, joint Member of the Management Board of the airport operating company Flughafen Wien AG, launched the intensive construction phase of the terminal extension.

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