St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport

The St. Gallen Business Airport is conveniently situated at the north-eastern tip of the country just at the very edge of the Lake Constance and near the border of Austria. Because of its location, the Gallen–Altenrhein Airport serves as an important hub for the business commuters in the trijunction around Lake Constance and the eastern part of Switzerland.

St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airport

The St. Gallen Business Airport is conveniently situated at the north-eastern tip of the country just at the very edge of the Lake Constance and near the border of Austria. Because of its location, the Gallen–Altenrhein Airport serves as an important hub for the business commuters in the trijunction around Lake Constance and the eastern part of Switzerland.

The airfield was opened in 1927 and provided services by operating regular flights to Innsbruck, Basle, and Munich, which had been discontinued and suspended after the beginning of the Second World War. In 1988, after the facility was being extended, flights to Vienna were started, which has been the main market of the St. Gallen Altenrhein Airport until today. An own brand that was aimed to stand for the airport and principally serve the business traveler was set up in 2010 and named “People’s Vienna line.” The airport operates scheduled flights to Vienna as well as some charter flights to several holiday destinations. They own an E170, but sometimes lease aircraft from different operators (e.g., Helvetic, Denim Air) Business jets are always to be encountered at the airport, smaller business jets are being maintained as well.

History

After the conclusion of World War II, Swiss authorities identified existing sites that were to be renovated as regional airports, the second tier of infrastructure to support the main urban airports, with St. Gallen-Altenrhein being one of the five. Austrian Airlines provided services at St. Gallen-Altenrhein from Vienna since 2003, when it took over the route from Rheintalflug, which used to be a predecessor of InterSky. The facility ended the contracts with Austrian in 2011 and started their airline, People's (formerly People's Vienna line), to serve the route. Austrian determined to continue the route as well in direct competition. As a result, there were up to six daily flights from the airport to Vienna during that period. In 2013, Austrian announced the termination of its route to Vienna because of continuing losses as a result of the harsh competition.

Airlines

St. Gallen-Altenrhein airport is currently served by three following airlines: Lufthansa, British Airways, and United Airlines.