Vienna Airport and Korean Air signed an agreement on 21 February to expand their existing partnership in a bid to increase the air cargo traffic between the Austrian airport and Incheon Airport in South Korea. 

Plans include joint market initiatives and exchange of industry expertise, and the main objective is to meet the growing demand for air cargo services between Korea and Austria. 

Vienna serves as a cargo hub for goods to and from Asia, particularly those involved in automobile production and electronics and pharmaceutical goods in Central and Eastern Europe. It serves as a cargo gateway for Vienna’s neighbours like Hungary and the Czech Republic, offering quick transshipment times to about 23 countries within 36 hours via the European motorway network. 

Korean Air has been regularly operating cargo flights to Vienna since 2004, and with more investments from Korean companies in the region, the airline is confident about growing demand for air cargo in the years to come. 

 “Austria and Asia have been economic regions that have been closely linked through international air cargo traffic for many years,” notedJulian Jäger, Joint CEO and COO of Flughafen Wien AG  

“Especially in the automotive and electronics sectors, Asian companies rely on the manufacturing capacities in the eastern European region.”