Austrian Aero Club

The Österreichischer Aero-Club (ÖAeC), or Austrian Aero Club, is the umbrella organisation for non-commercial aviation sport in Austria. Founded in Vienna in 1900 as the Wiener Aero-Club, it is one of the oldest aviation associations in the world and today functions both as a sports federation and as a delegated civil aviation authority. Its remit covers gliding, paragliding, hang-gliding, model flying, ballooning, parachuting and ultralight aviation, and it issues the sports licences required for competition. The club is a member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and is organised into nine regional associations (Landesverbände) covering the Austrian federal provinces. As a civil aviation authority, the ÖAeC acts on behalf of the Austrian federal ministry responsible for transport. By ministerial decree it has been entrusted with the regulation of training and examination for pilots of ultralight aircraft, gliders, parachutists, free balloons, hang-gliders, paragliders and powered hang-gliders/paragliders, making it a first-instance authority in these areas. The administrative body created for this purpose, the Kommission für Flugsport Allgemeine-Luftfahrt Administration (FAA), is organisationally separate from the sports federation, and its authority activity is supervised by the ministry. The club's sporting side runs national championships and supports Austrian teams and athletes. Since 2007 the Austrian cross-country national championship (ÖSSM) in paragliding and hang-gliding has been held decentrally via the XContest platform, and since 2012 those flights also count automatically for the FAI/CIVL World XC Online Contest (WXC) when the pilot holds a valid FAI sporting licence and CIVL ID. The ÖAeC also confirmed Felix Baumgartner's record stratospheric jump in October 2012. In 2026 the club marks its 125th anniversary with public events, including a celebration at the Tag des Sports on Vienna's Heldenplatz. The ÖAeC is a registered association rather than a commercial company, but it operates as a brand in Austrian aviation: it licenses, certifies, represents and promotes flying sports, and its name is the reference mark for non-commercial aviation in the country.

The Österreichische Aero-Club traces its origins to the Wiener Aero-Club, founded on 17 April 1900 in the St. Annahof in Vienna under the leadership of Viktor Silberer and Franz Hinterstoisser. The statutes were published at the end of April 1900 (Allgemeine Sport-Zeitung, 28 April 1900, page 400). The ordinary general assembly planned for December 1900 could not take place because too many members were absent from Vienna, so the club could not be properly registered with the authorities that year. This was completed on 12 March 1901, and the association was duly entered in the register of associations on 2 August 1901. In 1910 the name was changed to Österreichischer Aero-Club. In 1928 Walther Pessl became president. After the Second World War, the club was re-founded on 30 July 1950 with the permission of the Allied authorities. The new ÖAeC elected the former field pilot Major a. D. Ferdinand Cavallar von Grabensprung as its first post-war president. Over the following decades the club developed into the umbrella body for Austrian non-commercial aviation sport, organised into nine regional associations (Landesverbände). One example is the Österreichischer Aero-Club, Landesverband Kärnten, founded in 1958 out of the Flugsportverband Kärnten; as of October 2024 it comprised 55 clubs with eight airfields in Carinthia and 1,500 individual members, under president Martin Huber. A major institutional development was the delegation of civil aviation authority tasks to the ÖAeC by decree of the federal ministry responsible for science and transport. The club thereby became a first-instance civil aviation authority for the regulation of training and examination of pilots of ultralight aircraft, gliders, parachutists, free balloons, hang-gliders, paragliders and powered hang-gliders/paragliders. The commission established for this purpose, the Kommission für Flugsport Allgemeine-Luftfahrt Administration (FAA), is organisationally and locally separate from the sports federation, and the ministry supervises its authority activity. In the sporting field, since the 2007 season the Austrian cross-country national championship (Österreichische Streckenflug Staatsmeisterschaft, ÖSSM) in paragliding and hang-gliding has been held decentrally in several scoring categories via the XContest platform. Since the 2012 season these flights also automatically count for the FAI/CIVL World XC Online Contest (WXC) if the pilot has entered a valid FAI sporting licence and CIVL ID in their profile. The ÖAeC also confirmed Felix Baumgartner's record stratospheric jump in October 2012. In 2026 the club celebrates its 125th anniversary, including a joint celebration with the Tag des Sports on 26 September 2026 at the Heldenplatz in Vienna, featuring balloonist Christian Wagner, who won the world championship in 2024 and the vice-world championship in the Gordon Bennett Cup in 2025.

• 2026

  125th anniversary celebrated, including joint event with Tag des Sports on 26 September at Heldenplatz, Vienna.

• 2025

  Christian Wagner takes vice-world championship in the Gordon Bennett Cup.

• 2024

  Christian Wagner wins world championship in ballooning; Landesverband Kärnten reported 55 clubs, eight airfields and 1,500 members.

• 2012

  ÖSSM flights begin counting for the FAI/CIVL World XC Online Contest (WXC); ÖAeC confirms Felix Baumgartner's stratospheric record jump.

• 2007

  ÖSSM Austrian cross-country national championship in paragliding and hang-gliding first held via XContest.

• 1958

  Landesverband Kärnten founded out of the Flugsportverband Kärnten.

• 1950

  Re-founded on 30 July with Allied permission; Ferdinand Cavallar von Grabensprung elected first post-war president.

• 1928

  Walther Pessl became president.

• 1910

  Name changed to Österreichischer Aero-Club.

• 1901

  Registered with authorities on 12 March and entered in the register of associations on 2 August.

• 1900

  Founded as Wiener Aero-Club on 17 April in Vienna under Viktor Silberer and Franz Hinterstoisser.

Austria's national federation for non-commercial aviation sport and a delegated first-instance civil aviation authority for recreational and sport aviation.

• FAI sporting licences

  Licences required for participation in competitions, issued by the ÖAeC.

• Pilot licensing and examination (ultralight, glider, parachute, balloon, hang-glider, paraglider)

  Administered as a delegated first-instance civil aviation authority.

• ÖSSM Austrian cross-country national championship

  Paragliding and hang-gliding championship held decentrally via XContest since 2007.

1. 1Aeroclub - Allgemeinaeroclub.at
2. 2Österreichischer Aero-Clubde.wikipedia.org
3. 3Österreichischer Aero-Clubwikidata.org