BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Ryanair is actively talking to Vienna Airport (>> Flughafen Wien AG) about starting routes from the Austrian capital in the next 12 to 18 months, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

Ryanair currently flies from Bratislava, across the border in Slovakia, but is seeking access to the larger airport in Vienna, as it moves towards serving more primary hubs.

"There's new management in Vienna airport, they're making some very progressive moves towards finally introducing some new route incentives and some traffic growth incentives and those are very interesting," Michael O'Leary said on the sidelines of an Airlines For Europe event.

That development follows news in February that British Airways-owner IAG will expand in Austria this summer. Austrian Airlines, owned by Lufthansa, is currently the largest airline in Vienna.

(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Sarah Young)