Vienna-China air travel more than doubled in 2024

Last year, Vienna Airport saw more than twice as many passengers travel to and from China than in 2023. Austria's biggest airport expects this number to rise further given the recently installed flight connection to Chengdu in Southwestern China.

While arrivals from China had been low since the Covid pandemic, this year looks more positive. In the first half of 2024, Vienna recorded a 129 percent increase in Chinese tourists, compared with 2023.

The Austrian capital hopes its many classical music venues will lure keen Mozart and Beethoven aficionados.

"I love music so I'm just really excited," tourist Lin Ting Ni told CGTN during a concert at Vienna's Old Stock Exchange.

"To have a concert in a big hall, in a big opera, they can do it even in China or wherever they go," says Lami Cunaku, sales manager at Vienna Hofburg orchestra. "But the concerts we perform and the experience we offer - it's only to see in Vienna."

Alongside direct connections to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, Vienna is now offering Hainan airline flights to Chengdu.

"Chengdu is a very attractive city - the home of the pandas - and Shenzhen is a world-renowned capital of technology," Vienna Airport CEO Julian Jäger told CGTN.

"I do hope that many more Austrians fly to China as well and use the Hainan flights to travel to these cities."

Jäger says he will visit China in this year in a bid to establish more flight connections.

"I see a lot of potential for further growth in China and we do hope that we will get one or another additional destination in China in the coming years."

Even though passenger numbers between Austria and China are currently only at 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels, it's predicted that a steady increase is on the horizon as visitors seek to enjoy the highlights of each other's country.