Vienna International Airport

"VIE" redirects here. For other uses, see VIE (disambiguation).

Vienna International Airport Flughafen Wien-Schwechat
IATA: VIE – ICAO: LOWW
Summary
Airport type		Private
Operator		Flughafen Wien AG
Serves		Vienna, Austria ; Bratislava, Slovakia
Location		Schwechat, Austria
Hub for		Austrian Airlines Niki
Elevation AMSL		183 m / 600 ft
Coordinates		48°06′37″N 016°34′11″E
Website		www.viennaairport.com
Map
VIE Location within Austria
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
11/29	3,500	11,483	Asphalt
16/34	3,600	11,811	Asphalt
Source: Austrian AIP at EUROCONTROL

Vienna International Airport (IATA: VIE, ICAO: LOWW) (German: Flughafen Wien), located in Schwechat and 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of central Vienna, is the busiest and biggest airport in Austria. It is often referred to as Schwechat, the name of the county it is in. The airport is capable of handling wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340. The airport is the hub of Austrian Airlines and its subsidiaries, as well as Niki.

During 2009, the airport handled a total of 18,114,103 passengers, representing a 8.3% decrease compared to 2008. In 2010, the airport handled 19,691,206 passengers, an 8.7% increase over 2009.

History

Flughafen Wien AG manages the airport

Originally built as a military airport in 1908, it was taken over by the British in 1945. In 1954, the Betriebsgesellschaft was founded, and the airport replaced Aspern as Vienna's (and Austria's) principal aerodrome. There was just one runway, which in 1959 was expanded to measure 3,000 metres (9,843 ft). The erection of the new airport building starting in 1919. In 1972 another runway was built. In 1982 the airport was connected to the national motorway network (Ostautobahn). The airport received Olympic teams as Austria has twice hosted the Winter Olympics. Pope John Paul II also used the airport during his visits to Austria. On December 27, 1985, the El Al ticket counter was attacked by Palestinians terrorists. (See Rome and Vienna Airport Attacks.) In 1986, the enlarged arrivals hall was opened and in 1988, Pier East with 8 jetbridges. In 1992, the new terminal 1 was opened and a year later the PLAZA Shopping mall in the transit area. In 1996, Pier West was opened with 12 jetbridges. The airport formerly featured a Harrods, but it closed in 2003.

Terminals

Map of Vienna International Airport

Presently, Vienna International Airport has three terminals: The main terminals 1 and 2 and a provisional terminal 1A, built to offer more space for low-cost carriers. In addition to these terminals Vienna also has a unique VIP Terminal. In 2004, the airport started building a new terminal, SKYLINK, which will make the airport more capable of dealing with higher passenger volumes (2010: 19.7 million). This new terminal will also make the airport capable of handling more and bigger aircraft, although accommodating the Airbus A380 will require further upgrades. All Terminals are operated by Fraport, Vienna Airport Handling, Swissport and Austrian Airlines. After completion of SKYLINK, Austrian Airlines and its partners will move to the new Terminal.

Concourses

Hall D (formerly Hall A) ("Pier East"): Gates D21–D29 (only Jetbridges), D31–D37 (only Buses), D61–D70 (only Buses) International Flights
(Transit-Zone; Passport-control at entrance/exit of the hall; Gates with Jetbridges and Busgates)

Hall B: B22–B43 Europe (Schengen) Flights
(Busgates)

Hall C ("Pier West"): C31–C42 (only Jetbridges; Gates C35–C41 Transfer Gates), C71–C75 (only Buses) Europe (Schengen) Flights, partial international flights
(Gates with Jetbridges; Several gates are used for Europe (Schengen) flights and also for international flights; for international flights: Gates are called Transfergates; Passport control at the respective gates; passengers from international-to-international flights are going at arrival at one of the C-Gates, in front of the immigration-passport-control, to the transitzone to ground-floor, where they have access to other International Flights from the C-Gates and a shuttlebus-connection to the international hall D; Passengers arriving at the international hall D with an international connection-flight from one of the C-Gates use also the shuttlebus) New Busgates C71 to C75 opened on 2 April 2008, access via Gate C31, only Schengen-Operations

Exterior of the airport

Public transportation

The Vienna S-Bahn  S7  (Stopping at all stations from Floridsdorf Station until Rennweg Station, and usually all intermediate stops on the airport branch ) line stops at the airport. The more expensive  CAT  (City Airport Train) connects the airport directly to the Wien Mitte station close to the city center, where S-Bahn trains also stop but take a slightly longer time because of 7 intermediate stops. There are also many buses from the airport to various places in Vienna and to other cities; however, the S-Bahn line is the only means of transport from Vienna to the airport on which the standard integrated tickets for the Vienna region are valid (as a result, they also allow further travelling by underground, bus or tram, which the CAT tickets don't).

After the construction of Main Railway Station, a line called "S70" is scheduled to be opened which will connect the airport to that railway station, so that the frequency of S-Bahn trains becomes higher than the current 30 minutes. There are no plans to extend any underground line to the airport although it has sometimes been proposed to extend line U3 (currently terminating at Simmering) there; this would be the first underground line extending beyond Vienna's city limits.

Masterplan 2015

Vienna Airport enlargement plan

Because of its constant growth in passenger numbers and freight, Vienna International Airport has decided to enlarge Austria's biggest airport with several new and respectively adapted buildings.

• New Tower: A new Tower was built. With its 109 metres (358 ft) of height, it allows a free overlook of the entire airport area and it offers another spectacular sight: a night laser show, which should welcome the passengers even from the aircraft.

• New Terminal: Due to constant passenger and freight growth, Vienna International Airport has planned to build another Terminal, SKYLINK, which should be able to compensate higher passenger rates. Construction started in 2004 and will last until 2012. Construction had been suspended recently due to projected cost increases, but has since resumed. Operations in the new terminal are planned to start during the first half of 2012. The total cost of the project is now 830 million EUR.

• Third Runway: Due to higher aviation rates, the construction of a third runway is considered.

• Railway station: The underground railway station will be enlarged and a connection to Bratislava will be constructed. Additionally the  CAT  (City Airport Train), which connects the centre of Vienna with the airport in just 16 minutes, will receive a new underground railway station.

Following concerns over the mismanagement of the VIE-Skylink project, chief executive Herbert Kaufman agreed to resign at the end of December 2010.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger airlines

The designed 109-metre tall control tower presents a unique laser show after dark

Visitors terrace (opens June 2012)

Exterior view of Hall D for international flights

Pier of Skylink with a length of 450 meters - Terminal 3

Terminal 1 at the airport

Terminal 2 at the airport

Gates of Hall C, serving mostly Schengen countries

Interior of Terminal 1

Shopping lane in departures area

Luggage reclaim hall

VIP Terminal at Vienna International Airport

Vienna is served by the following scheduled airlines:

Airlines	Destinations
Adria Airways	Ljubljana
Aegean Airlines	Athens
Aer Lingus	Dublin
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
Air Berlin	Berlin-Tegel, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Nuremberg
Air Dolomiti	Verona
Air France	Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Toulouse [begins 1 April 2012]
Air Malta	Malta
Air Moldova	Chiṣinău
AirBaltic	Riga
Alitalia	Rome-Fiumicino
Alitalia operated by Air One	Rome-Fiumicino
Austrian Airlines	Amman-Queen Alia, Amsterdam, Arbil, Astana, Athens, Baghdad, Baku, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Barcelona, Beijing-Capital, Belgrade, Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June], Berlin-Tegel [ends 2 June], Brussels, Bucharest-Otopeni, Cairo, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Damascus [resumes 25 March 2012], Delhi, Dnepropetrovsk, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Hamburg, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Larnaca, London-Heathrow, Moscow-Domodedovo, Mumbai, Munich, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Pristina, Rome-Fiumicino, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Tenerife-South, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Tripoli [resumes 25 March], Washington-Dulles, Yerevan, Zagreb, Zürich Seasonal: Dubrovnik, Faro, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Naples, Reykjavik-Keflavik, Split, Thessaloniki
Austrian operated by Lauda Air	Antalya, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Lanzarote, Luxor, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tenerife-South Seasonal: Bodrum, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Funchal, Heraklion, Karpathos, Kavala, Kos, Lesbos, Malaga, Mykonos, Naples, Preveza, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos
Austrian operated by Tyrolean Airways	Altenrhein, Amsterdam, Basel/Mulhouse, Belgrade, Berlin-Brandenburg [begins 3 June], Berlin-Tegel [ends 2 June], Bologna, Brussels, Budapest, Chişinău, Cologne/Bonn, Copenhagen, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Düsseldorf, Florence, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Graz, Iaşi, Innsbruck, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kharkov, Kiev-Boryspil, Klagenfurt, Košice, Kraków, Krasnodar, Leipzig/Halle, Linz, Lviv, Lyon, Minsk, Munich, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Podgorica, Prague, Reus, Salzburg, Sibiu, Skopje, Sochi, Sofia, St Petersburg, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Timişoara, Tirana, Varna, Venice-Marco Polo, Vilnius, Warsaw, Zagreb Seasonal: Athens, Barcelona, Bucharest-Otopeni, Burgas, Hamburg, Milan-Malpensa, Pristina, Rostov-on-Don, Sarajevo, Thessaloniki, Zürich
Belle Air	Skopje, Pristina
BMI	London-Heathrow
British Airways	London-Heathrow
Brussels Airlines	Brussels
B&H Airlines	Sarajevo [begins 25 March 2012]
Bulgaria Air	Sofia
Central Connect Airlines	Ostrava
China Airlines	Taipei-Taoyuan
Condor	Punta Cana, Varadero [begins 4 November 2012]
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb Seasonal: Dubrovnik, Split
EasyJet	London-Gatwick
Emirates	Dubai
EgyptAir	Cairo
El Al	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion
Estonian Air	Tallinn [begins 25 March 2012]
EVA Air	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Taipei-Taoyuan
Finnair	Helsinki
Georgian Airways	Tbilisi
Germanwings	Cologne/Bonn, Hanover, Stuttgart
Iberia	Madrid
InterSky	Friedrichshafen
Iran Air	Tehran-Imam Khomeini
Jat Airways	Belgrade
KLM	Amsterdam
KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper	Amsterdam
Korean Air	Seoul-Incheon, Zurich
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw
LOT operated by EuroLOT	Kraków
Lufthansa	Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg
Lufthansa Regional operated by Eurowings	Düsseldorf
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine	Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich
Luxair	Luxembourg
Montenegro Airlines	Podgorica
Niki	Barcelona, Belgrade, Bucharest-Otopeni, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Hurghada, Lanzarote, Malaga, Marsa Alam, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Domodedovo, Munich, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Pristina, Rome-Fiumicino, Sharm el-Sheikh, Sofia, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tenerife-South, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion [begins 20 February 2012], Valencia, Zürich Seasonal: Antalya, Cagliari, Corfu, Edinburgh, Funchal, Heraklion, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Luxor, Mahón, Olbia, Reykjavik-Keflavik, Rhodes, Samos, Shannon, Zakynthos
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Oslo-Gardermoen
OLT Jetair	Heringsdorf [begins 6 June 2012]
Pegasus Airlines	Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen, Samsun
Pegasus operated by IZair	Izmir
People's Viennaline	Altenrhein
Qatar Airways	Doha
RAK Airways	Charter: Ras Al Khaimah
Rossiya	St Petersburg
Royal Jordanian	Amman-Queen Alia
Sky Work Airlines	Berne
SunExpress	Antalya, İzmir, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Syrian Air	Berlin-Schönefeld, Damascus
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich
TAP Portugal	Lisbon
TAROM	Bucharest-Otopeni, Cluj-Napoca
Transaero Airlines	Moscow-Domodedovo
transavia.com	Rotterdam
Tunisair	Tunis
Turkish Airlines	Istanbul-Atatürk
Turkish Airlines operated by Anadolujet	Ankara
Ukraine International	Kiev-Boryspil, Odessa
Ural Airlines	Chelyabinsk
Vueling Airlines	Barcelona, Paris-Orly [begins 26 March 2012]

Additionally, several airlines operate charter flights out of the airport, including Air VIA, Arkia Israel Airlines, Bulgarian Air Charter, Freebird Airlines, Sky Airlines and SunExpress.

Cargo airlines

Airlines	Destinations
Air China Cargo	Beijing-Capital, Milan-Malpensa, Shanghai-Pudong
Asiana Cargo	Frankfurt, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Seoul-Incheon, Moscow-Domodedovo
China Southern Airlines	Amsterdam, Shanghai-Pudong
DHL Aviation operated by European Air Transport	Brussels
Farnair Hungary	Timişoara
FedEx Express	Budapest, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Korean Air Cargo	Brussels, Copenhagen, Seoul-Incheon, Milan-Malpensa, Basel/Mulhouse, Navoi, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Oslo
Royal Jordanian Cargo	Amman-Queen Alia
TNT Airways	Liege
UPS Airlines	Budapest, Cologne/Bonn

Accidents and incidents

There hasn't been a fatal aviation accident at Vienna International Airport since 1955 when a Convair CV-340 crashed on approach to the airport, killing 7 of the 29 passengers and crew on board.

• On 12, July 2000, Hapag-Lloyd Flight 3378 crashed short of the runway at Vienna International Airport. The cause of the incident was fuel exhaustion. Nobody on board was killed.

External links

Media related to Vienna International Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Vienna International Airport, official site
• Current weather for LOWW at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for VIE at Aviation Safety Network