capedreamer

Hoping for more clarity soon. We’re scheduled to fly to VIE on Dec 23. Hoping the lockdown has an effect on the trajectory of cases and will have ended by then. But short of that, hope OS makes schedule changes ASAP so we can rebook elsewhere.

MDTyKe

Yes, I'm aware I have no transiting issue (I'm an EU citizen with a DCC anyway) My concern is whether or not my flight, or the OS flight I'm connecting to will still exist.. ha ha. I'm kind of hoping they'll cancel so I have leverage with UA to change. Right now, a 5-hr layover with no lounge or food in VIE is hardly ideal.

So far, OS flights are listed as Scheduled, even this upcoming week.

cockpitvisit

What does the lockdown mean for transit passengers (assuming flights do not get canceled)? Are you allowed to transit VIE? If you have a transit with an overnight stay, are you allowed to leave the terminal and go to an airport hotel (this is intra Schengen, so no border issues)? I find nothing in the info released so far, nor do I find an official text of the regulation - has it been written at all?

Also I am curious - are Austrians permitted to travel to other countries during the lockdown for non-essential purposes? After all, traveling away is the best possible contribution one can make to lowering the Covid-19 incidence rate.

warakorn

No new restrictions on transit.

If you comply with all Schengen + Austria entry requirements, then this should not be a problem.



If you are on a business trip (and can prove that), you can stay at the airport hotel.
If you are on a private/tourist trip, then it's not allowed anymore. That is the biggest change due to the lockdown.

What still do you want to know?
Most of your question had been answered already.

What other countries will do, we cannot predict that. Austrian citizens are allowed to leave Austria for any reason.

That is not true. Travel spreads the virus.

cockpitvisit

So basically, if a transit passenger is on a business trip, he gets to sleep in an airport hotel. If he is on a private trip, he is sleeping on a bench in the terminal, correct?
(note: we are not talking about tourism to Austria. We are talking about tourism to, say, France with a transit in Austria)
Very smart

I don't see "leaving Austria" listed as a legitimate reason to leave your home under the new regulations, so how are you going to get to the airport?

MYSTERYouse

Just received cancellation for my flight between VIE-ZRH 29.11 - 10.12. so I guess more will follow ...

EDIT: False alarm, it was a cancellation of VIE-ZRH-FLR scheduled for 15th of Dec, just too similar reservation numbers. Sorry.

warakorn

This is allowed. This was also no problem during the last lockdown.
Yes, this is the case.

YClass

Have a connecting flight this Saturday, returning Tuesday. These impending restrictions were known about for a while and my booking was confirmed this weekend - urgent travel. Would be irritating if they now cancelled. One sector now showing as can't select seats, not sure if that means anything.

warakorn

Just rebook on Railjet.

capedreamer

If we (Canadian citizens) have international flights from Canada arriving into VIE on Dec 23, and the lockdowns are extended to that date, under the current rules, would we be allowed to fly to Vienna on our existing bookings and then:

• Take a separate flight (on a new unrelated PNR) to a third country (say, Italy)?
• Take a train from Vienna to a third country?

I just realized that a subset of our party have Economy Light tickets on OS and changing them will be quite expensive. OS has not cancelled their flights yet but one of our hotels (the Imperial Riding School Renaissance Vienna) has already cancelled our reservation.

hugolover

Which flights are OS cancelling, has any pattern emerged?

warakorn

If you comply with the existing (pre-Lockdown) rules, you should be able to land in Vienna.
However, rules may change, esp. if the third country locks it's borders.

capedreamer

Thank you. And by "land in Vienna", would that include entering Austria to take a train?

And yes, I acknowledge that rules can change and other countries can close their borders. The purpose of this inquiry is to see if we should try to rebook the whole thing now (at some expense) or wait to see how the situation evolves.

MDTyKe

So far, none. I've been watching a few that I'm taking (ORD-VIE, VIE-BEG) today and later this week and everything is still listed as scheduled. I'm not too hopeful though...my actual flights are second week of Dec, still during the lockdown period.

Honestly a part of me is hoping it does cancel so I have some leverage with UA (award ticket, who I booked with) to rebook via somewhere else in Europe. I'm not sure I want to sit in VIE for 5 hours with everything, including lounges, closed.

Edit: It appears the lounges are open, but are only giving "Take Away" bags with snacks/food. You can't eat in the lounge, but you can take the food and eat it outside the door, then re-enter.........after you have a smoke inside the lounge......

warakorn

That means enter Austria (landside).