“Luxembourg Airport now covers no fewer than 88 direct destinations in 21 countries. It thus plays a major economic role for the country, generating jobs and sizeable indirect added value through the companies which supply goods and services to  all the service providers operating at Findel”, notes Tom Weisgerber, chairman of the board at lux-Airport.

In the context of an enduring economic crisis, the efforts undertaken to constantly improve the conditions of reception, and services rendered to users of the airport (passengers and airline companies) are now beginning to bear fruit.

The attractiveness of the site was confirmed by the arrival of new companies, in particular easyJet, which, since October has offered flights to London Gatwick, and since this spring, to Milan Malpensa.

In the “cargo” segment, however, the year has once again been more difficult, with a fall in tonnage handled to 614,905  tonnes, a decrease of 6.36%. “But the fundamentals are in place and by maintaining skills and quality at a high level we will be able, once the worldwide economic climate picks up again, to absorb the upsurge in our operations”, said Mr Weisgerber.

A Masterplan and a strategic study
Also in 2012 lux-Airport, with the assistance of an external company, produced a Masterplan for the next 15 years, defining the guidelines to be followed in terms of the sustainable development of different areas of the airport until 2027.

At the same time lux-Airport completed a strategic study, “Airport and Aviation Strategy”, concerning not only the increase in passenger and freight traffic, but also the expansion of retail shops and customer services, the development and improvement of real estate infrastructure, the foreseeable impact of future Community directives and the optimisation of accounting policies.

A timetable for implementing the suggestions made within the framework of this study will be drawn up for 2013 and 2014.

The drafting of an overall plan for the airport infrastructure and associated buildings follows the same line of thought and constitutes a necessary phase in providing lux-Airport with an appropriate strategy for cohesive and sustainable real estate development.

“Luxembourg Airport is in its prime and it is progressing and growing constantly. In any case, it’s the only way to guarantee the permanence of this formidable economic development tool for the entire country and the Greater Region”, said Fernand Brisbois, managing director of lux-Airport.

The development of the airport’s infrastructure has been ongoing: work on the dismantling and demolition of the old terminal was completed in April 2012; the hot and cold underground networks to Terminal B have been set up and linked to the airport cogeneration plant. All that remains to be done is to complete the connecting walkway between Terminals A and B, which should be completed by the end of 2013.

A healthy financial situation
In terms of finance, lux-Airport can take pride in its healthy and prudent management of the company’s accounts. On 31 May 2013 the ordinary general meeting of the Luxembourg Airport Company approved the accounts for the year ending 31 December 2012, which showed a positive result of €3,793,428. Turnover increased by €563,895, from €37,920,757 in 2011 to €38,484,652 in 2012.