Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Vienna

  • Transport volume at 402.2 million tonnes, in 2019, in Austria

    Transport volume at 402.2 million tonnes, in 2019, in Austria

    In 2019, 402.2 million tonnes (t) of goods on 30.1 million laden journeys were transported by goods road vehicles registered in Austria, according to Statistics Austria.

    Thus, the transport volume increased by 2.3% compared to the preceding year.

    The total transport performance, achieved on Austrian and foreign territory (i.e. the product of transport volume and distance travelled) was 26.5 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm) and therefore by 2.9% higher than in 2018.

    Around 18.9 billion tkm of this transport performance (+1.7%) took place on Austrian territory. The transport performance operated on foreign territory increased by 6.0% to 7.6 billion tkm in 2019.

  • Erlaaer Straße U6 station will be accessible from two sides

    Erlaaer Straße U6 station will be accessible from two sides

    The Erlaaer Straße U6 station will be accessible from two sides. From the beginning of school in 2021, in addition to the current access via Erlaaer Straße, the station will have a second staircase in the ”In der Wiesen” area.

    6.000 new apartments are currently being built in the urban development area “In der Wiesen”. The new subway access ensures that passengers get to the U6 faster and do not have to accept a detour to the existing entrance on Erlaaer Straße. 

    Wiener Linien is investing around eight million euros in the renovation and expansion of the station.

    ”The city grows and the public transport grows with it. As originally planned, the second staircase in Erlaaer Straße is now being implemented. This will make it easier for thousands of residents to access the station”, says Günter Steinbauer, Managing Director of Wiener Linien. 

    The Erlaaer Straße station will be expanded in several construction phases from the end of May. As part of the construction work, the platforms will also be completely roofed over to better protect passengers from the weather. 

  • Austria: Number of naturalisations decreased by 11.3% in Q1 2020

    Austria: Number of naturalisations decreased by 11.3% in Q1 2020

    2 451 persons acquired Austrian citizenship in the first quarter of 2020.

    According to Statistics Austria, the number of naturalisations decreased by 11.3% compared to the first quarter of 2019 (2 764 naturalisations).

    Females accounted for 55.1% of all naturalisations, children and juveniles under 18 years of age for 34.6%. Over a third of the new citizens had already been born in Austria (38.4%).

    In the first quarter of 2020, the largest groups of naturalised people were former citizens of Serbia (327), Bosnia and Herzegovina (291), Turkey (226), Kosovo (150), Afghanistan (87) and Romania (86).

  • Passenger decrease of 99.5% at Vienna Airport in April 2020

    Passenger decrease of 99.5% at Vienna Airport in April 2020

    The number of passengers handled by Vienna Airport in April 2020 decreased by 99.5% to 12.632 travellers. The number of local passengers was down by 99.4%, whereas the number of transfer passenger fell by 99.9%.

    The number of flight movements in April 2020 also showed a massive decline of 95.8% year-on-year. Cargo volume at Vienna Airport dropped by 38.2% from the comparable level of April 2019.

    The number of passengers at Vienna Airport fell by 18.8% in January-March 2020

    The number of passengers at Vienna Airport fell by 18.8% year-on-year to 4.919.588 travellers.

    The number of flight movements from January to March 2020 was down by 13.7% from the prior-year quarter to 48.613 takeoffs and landings.

    The average capacity utilisation of the aircraft (seat load factor) fell from 70.7% to 65.3%.

  • Overnight stays in Vienna decreased by 98.2% in April

    Overnight stays in Vienna decreased by 98.2% in April

    Overnight stays in Vienna have shrunk by 98.2% to only 29.000 last month. From January to April, 2.564.000 overnight stays were counted, which means a drop of 46.8%.     

    Since April 4, accommodation businesses have no longer been able to accept leisure guests and the lockdown in mid-March has largely brought business trips to a standstill. 

    Vienna’s accommodation providers registered 29.000 overnight stays in April, 98.2% less than in the same month of the previous year, almost half of which came from Austria. 

    Arrivals decreased by 99.2% to 5.628. The average occupancy of the hotel beds fell to 4.5% (04/2019: 67.5%), that of the rooms to around 6% (04/2019: around 87%). 

    A total of around 17.100 hotel beds were available in Vienna in April 2020, around 74% less than in the same month last year. 

    The turnover of overnight stays by accommodation providers in Vienna fell in March – data for April are not yet available – by 79% to 14.017.000 euros. 

    From January to March, the companies generated EUR 123.654.000, 26.5% less than in the corresponding period in 2019. 

  • Short-time working funds increased to €12 billion in Austria

    Short-time working funds increased to €12 billion in Austria

    Austrian Finance Minister Blümel increased funds for short-time working to €12 billion. Financial police will carry out priority checks to detect fraudulent use of funds.

    ”With coronavirus short-time working, we have created a model that is unique in Europe to keep unemployment as low as possible at a difficult time. Especially in the current phase, it is important to be able to resume operations with well-trained, long-standing employees. Short-time working is a sensible measure to get through the crisis. We are therefore increasing funds for short-time working, which have already amounted to € 10 billion, to a total of € 12 billion. Especially at the present moment, it makes sense to implement a safety buffer to protect jobs”, said Finance Minister Gernot Blümel in a press conference.

    The decline in the number of applications for short-time working shows that companies are now seeing less need for it, which is an important sign that the economy is rapidly recovering.

    Nevertheless, funds are being increased, since with the current volume of applications, any new applications could not otherwise be processed.

    Also, almost 5,000 control notifications have been sent to the AMS and 846 to the Construction Workers’ Annual Leave and Severance Pay Fund.

  • Apeiron Biologics, new financing round for the COVID-19 drug APN01

    Apeiron Biologics, new financing round for the COVID-19 drug APN01

    Apeiron Biologics AG will complete a capital increase to finance the further development of APN01 for the treatment of severely ill COVID-19 patients as well as the development of immuno-oncology projects.

    The Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) will lead the financing round and secures the private placement as an anchor investor, investment commitments from existing shareholders and new institutional and private international investors have been provided.

    In addition, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the Vienna Business Agency (WAW), the Austrian promotional bank (AWS) and the Erste Bank have committed grant funding and guarantees.

    APN01 is one of the most advanced drug candidates for the treatment of COVID-19 and one of the few therapy approaches specifically targeting the coronavirus, because it imitates the receptor ACE2 and thus offers a unique dual approach to treatment.

    Experts believe that accelerated market approval could be completed if the study shows positive results.

  • Austria: Inflation decreased to 1.5% in April 2020

    Austria: Inflation decreased to 1.5% in April 2020

    In April 2020, the inflation rate was 1.5%, as Statistics Austria reports (March 2020: 1.6%). Lower prices for fuels were mainly responsible for the decrease of the April inflation rate.

    Price increases for housing, water and energy (+2.3% compared to April 2019) remained the most important price driver, followed by those for food (+2.6%).

    The index level of the consumer price index 2015 (CPI 2015) was 108.1 in April 2020. Compared to the previous month, the average price level remained unchanged with ±0.0%.

    The index level of the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP 2015) was 108.75 in April 2020, with the harmonised inflation rate amounting to 1.5%.

  • Skillmill, a platform for the creative industry, connects talent with opportunity

    Skillmill, a platform for the creative industry, connects talent with opportunity

    Skillmill acts a melting pot for creative professionals with all sorts of specialties and backgrounds, causing projects to germinate and innovation to flourish.

    This provides rich ground for creatives not only to find new jobs, but to discover, connect, and smoothly collaborate with one another as well.

    Skillmill offers the creative community the space and infrastructure it needs to work together and co-create, making it possible to start a profile for free, upload a portfolio, and connect with others.

    Skillmill’s Messenger function is a way to contact businesses and creatives without even being connected members.

    The Skillmill network focuses on the creative market

    This ranges from advertising and graphic design to architecture, web development, and much more. Thousands of creatives are already members.

    Skillmill encourages creatives to support and guide one another.

    “Collaborating across the borders of a branch fosters innovation and is a crucial aspect of the development of the creative economy as a whole. That’s why we are pleased to help creatives work together,” says Max Hareiter, Skillmill co-founder and CEO.

  • Wiener Linien Transport Museum opens again from May 30th

    Wiener Linien Transport Museum opens again from May 30th

    The Wiener Linien Transport Museum was closed for eleven weeks because of the coronavirus. The museum in Erdberg will reopen on May 30th. 

    As a special highlight, there is a special exhibition on the subject of “50 years of underground construction”. It opens a journey through time into Vienna’s underground: from November 3, 1969, when the excavators and construction vehicles first appeared on Karlsplatz, to the driverless subway of the future.

    Visitors must wear mouth-nose protection and maintain a distance of at least one meter from other people. Until further notice, there is a limited number of people in the shop. 

    In addition, the already known hygiene rules apply, such as sneezing in the crook of the arm or handkerchief, and regular hand washing with soap. Notes and markings help with orientation. 

    Due to the corona protection measures, no guided tours or events can take place in the coach house until further notice.

    Opening times from May 30, 2020

    • Museum: Saturday, Sunday and selected public holidays 10 A.M. – 6 P.M. | Wednesday 9 A.M.. – 6 P.M.
    • Shop: Saturday, Sunday and selected public holidays 10 A.M. – 6 P.M. | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9 A.M. – 3 P.M. | Wednesday 9 A.M. – 6 P.M.
  • Wien Holding in 2019, the best balance sheet in its history

    Wien Holding in 2019, the best balance sheet in its history

    For 2019, Wien Holding has the best results since its founding in 1974: more sales, higher investments, more profit and sharply increased equity. 

    ”Around 616 million euros in sales in the entire group – thereof around 228.5 million euros in the consolidated companies, total assets of around 1.11 billion euros and a total consolidated annual profit of 76.5 million euros, these are the key figures for 2019,” says Wien Holding Managing Director Kurt Gollowitzer. 

    In addition, the equity ratio climbed to 58.79 percent, as equity increased by EUR 81.1 million compared to the previous year. In 2019, the record amount of EUR 200 million was invested (2018: EUR 144 million).

    The entire Vienna Holding group is made up of around 75 group companies with their respective shares. Of the approximately 75 companies in the Wien Holding Group, 42 are fully consolidated and 11 other companies are consolidated using the equity method.

    The 42 fully consolidated companies alone generated sales of EUR 228.5 million in the 2019 financial year. In 2019, 2.939 people were employed in all companies.

    The Austria-wide gross value added, which the group provides for Vienna and far beyond, is enormous at around 1.6 billion euros. Around 809 million euros of this will remain in Vienna. Wien Holding directly, indirectly and induces around 23.000 jobs across Austria, around half of them in Vienna.

  • Austrian Airlines flight suspension extended until June 7

    Austrian Airlines flight suspension extended until June 7

    Austrian Airlines has decided to extend the suspension of regular flight operations at least for another week, from May 31 to June 7, 2020. A restart during the month of June is under review.

    Austrian Airlines says that due to worldwide travel restrictions caused by the corona pandemic, the demand for air travel is still low.

    The Austrian federal government announced that the borders with Germany and possibly other countries would be reopened on June 15.

    “When the demand is right and the travel restrictions fall, we want to fly again”, says Austrian Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Andreas Otto.