Salzburg airport has announced plans to close for just under five weeks next year, in order to carry out “a thorough and general refurbishment” of its 60-year old runway.

The closure will take place from April 24 to May 28, 2019. In a statement on its website the airport said:

“Over the last years the almost 60-year-old runway 15/33 at Salzburg Airport had to be partly renovated over and over again, causing enormous costs. Since this procedure can no longer be repeated for safety reasons, a general refurbishment of the runway is now inevitable.

“In order to ensure a thorough and general refurbishment to the 60-year-old runway, the airport will be closed for air traffic from April 24, 2019 until May 28, 2019. In this way very noisy works can be performed during daytime.

“Closing the airport during this period of time allows for an excellent quality of execution and for a longer operating life. The method chosen for renovating the runway is the safest way to help protect the population from noise during nighttime.”

Salzburg is the second largest airport in Austria, with flights operated by a number of carriers from the UK and Ireland (some seasonally), including:

  • Aer Lingus (from Dublin)
  • British Airways (from Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow)
  • Easyjet (from Belfast, Bristol, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton)
  • Flybe (from Belfast City, Birmingham, Newcastle)
  • Jet 2 (from Belfast, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, Stansted, Manchester)
  • Norwegian (from Gatwick)
  • Ryanair (from Stansted and Dublin)

It’s not yet clear if the above carriers will be offering alternative travel arrangements over the affected period. Munich airport is located around 130km from Salzburg, with a regular rail service available between the two cities.

Earlier this week Business Traveller reported that Milan Linate airport will also close for three months next summer, to allow for works on its runway and terminal building.

salzburg-airport.com