Vienna Airport Passenger Reviews and Vienna Airport Traveller Reports

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VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  9 June 2010 by Bob McLean   (Austria)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Flying in and out of this airport is pretty much the only negative thing about living in Vienna - this airport is a shameful mess. The planners should have visited a couple other airports before ever daring to think they could make any improvements. Boarding areas are way too small. Would have been fine in the 50s when the average plane was the size of a Douglas DC-3, but the aircraft today are a tad bigger. First class lounge is a joke. One never knows from one week to the next where the taxi stand is going to be. Taking public transit would be fine, but one needs to be in the know so as not to be duped into taking the way overpriced CAT. (City Airport Train) Taking the CAT would almost be acceptable, except that when you arrive at Wien/Mitte (train station) you then still have to buy a ticket on the subway to get anywhere else. (or take a cab) With the S-Bahn, you can simply buy a ticket for EUR3,20 that will then take you to anywhere within the zone 100. In either case, whether CAT or S-Bahn (regional railroad) there's far too much walking between the airport terminal and train station.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  30 May 2010 by Gavin Burns   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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The boarding lounges are far too small. Earlier this year we boarded a full 777-200 flight to Narita and the gate was shoulder to shoulder-in fact, security had to stop screening passengers as there was physically no more room for any more passengers to stand. Does this airport have a safety department? Too much shopping-not enough seating especially those with young children or the elderly.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  11 May 2010 by Y Kahanovych   (Ukraine)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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My overall impression is mixed. On the positive side I would mention WiFi coverage, friendliness of staff, fast immigration and cleanliness of the facility. On the negative side I would put lack of seating, lack of logic in layout and signage, poor food selection, strange security procedures and ineffective distribution of Schengen and non-Schengen departures within same areas of terminal which means once you are near your gate and trough security, you have to stay within very limited space with nothing to do. Architecture and overall appearance of the building are rather boring. Baggage delivery took about 25 minutes.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  2 May 2010 by Pavel Iosad   (Norway)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Arrival OK, bussed to the gate butthat's pretty normal with low-cost carriers here. Once inside, met by airport employees giving out tourist booklets. Some waiting for luggage, but nothing too bad. Out through customs, slightly cramped and signage could be better. Signs to the train steers you towards the airport train which is the same as S-Bahn but costs much more: make sure you go for the S-Bahn, it is very easy to miss. Departure: if you arrive by train (whether S-Bahn or CAT), you have to go through the arrivals area and a narrow corridor to find an elevator to departures: suboptimal. But the worst part was that our flight to Oslo was not on the screens! It turned out that low-cost carriers have a separate check-in building across the road from the main terminal. Though HG flights, which also have to be checked in in that building, are on the screens. There is basically no information on that: very bad. Once we found the check-in desk and dropped the luggage (which went reasonably fast), the rest was OK. Security is at the gate, so you go first to a very decent selection of shops and cafes. The ground-floor boarding area (the bus-gates) is shambolic though, lots of flights with probably three security channels, and while the security people were doing their best, there was some queuing. Once in, it's very packed, and there is a pretty useless shop wedged in between the gates, so there were two chaotic queues trying to get through some very narrow space. Overall: does the job, but needs work in many areas. Good shopping though.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  24 February 2010 by C Bougerol   (France)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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As a connecting Austrian Arrows schengen area passenger, I experienced very good, quick, easy and smooth connection there. Just few meters from disembarking area to the next flight gate. Security lines are crowded, staff isn't very friendly but quite professional and do their job quite efficiently so no problem! Absolutely no delays there! I recommend this hub for Schengen area connecting flights.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  17 January 2010 by F Ganbich   (Norway)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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The airport gets more and more crowded and is awaiting the opening of the new terminal, which will approximately double its capacity, sadly the building site has been stopped due to financial difficulties, so it looks like this will be available only in two years or so. In my opinion, Vienna airport is outdated and generally very unsightly (tasteless and very much patched together interiors). I think there is a general lack of seating here. Prices at bars and restaurants are outrageous. Considering this is their hub, the C lounge facilities offered by Austrian Airlines are unimpressive. The new CAT service (City Airport Train) to/from Vienna is a joke - it has roughly the same frequency and transport time as the suburban train (S-Bahn), but charges three times its fare. The VIAS security staff - responsible for everyone's security scans is rude and speaks very little English - hard to believe such badly trained staff should be responsible for security. Check-in for StarAlliance and AirBerlin/NIKI passengers can be done in the city centre. Terminal check-in has plenty of machines, but Y service can be a bit temperamental. Waiting times and walking distances are very short, transferring between the most remote gates does not take more than 10-15 minutes. The luggage delivery is great - I never waited for more than 15 minutes after getting off the plane. Transport to and from Vienna is excellent and inexpensive. S-Bahn (3 Euro) or my favourite - the 15 minute bus ride to very central Schwedenplatz for 6 Euro.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  26 December 2009 by H Mathews   (Austria)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Vienna Airport has gone very much downhill. For Star Alliance airlines (Swiss, Austrian, etc) there is no check-in anymore. You are supposed to use the check-in computers (just look for the rugby rummage and elbow your way to the front). If there is a problem with your booking (the system decided to change mine to make my connecting flight 12 hours before my initial flight) then everything takes longer again. Forget time-saving - the "new improved" system takes forever. If you have a bag which is not standard size, you are sent to another queue where you are billed 8 Euros for each piece of luggage to go through the x-ray machine. Once inside the departure area, the shops' prices explode! Buy an iced-tea and a small toasted sandwich (optimistically given the name of 'panino') and wave goodbye to another 8 Euros. Take your snack to the table needing the least cleaning (dishes piled up everywhere - dirty tables, GROSS). All other shops have crazy prices. I will definitely be avoiding this airport in the future. I flew on a day where not many people flew and everything still took ages.

VIENNA AIRPORT customer review :  20 December 2009 by Frank Epple   (Germany)

Customer Rating :  2/5

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Delayed arrival to a snowy airport - the aircraft taxied to a finger but we were deposed on the icy and slippery tarmac, as we arrived from non Schengen and the finger was Schengen - took a while to get the bus. - Long queues on security during the evening rush-hour, within five minutes, gate changes were announced twice for one flight.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 5 November 2009 by David Gartside

Customer Rating : 4/5

Fair to good. On arrival a bit chaotic to be mixed with departing passengers and the sea of yellow hoardings is a good stress raiser. Baggage retrieval efficient. Route to CAT and S-Bahn a bit tortuous, and you have to be determined to get to the S-Bahn. Absence of ticket office and only two S-Bahn machines a bit painful - though there is another ticket machine at platform level. Don't forget to validate the ticket! Check-in and security calm and efficient on return journey.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 22 October 2009 by P Bedson

Customer Rating : 3/5

Very congested airport both air and land side - it feels like it has outgrown itself - lots of shops (including at least two sex shops - what is that about?) and a confusing layout makes it worse and there is almost nowhere to sit either in the lounge or at the gates (which are beyond security). Every time I have been through here I have been bussed to/from the aircraft but lots of work in evidence so maybe things will change. The CAT train to town is great but dumps you in a building site at the moment with a very convoluted trek to get to the subway train connection.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 24 September 2009 by C Hellberg

Customer Rating : 4/5

VIE has quite a hopeless lack of seating except in all the restaurants and after you've passed security control, which I'm sure is quite deliberate to encourage people stay in the restaurants and cafes. You won't easily find a way to provide feedback to the airport either if you want to have a whinge / give positive feedback. As others have said, there is a security control at each gate so allow plenty of time to wait in the security queue for your flight. Most likely you'll be bussed to the terminal. On the plus side, the airport is clean, has several nice shops and a couple of good cafes in the non-shengen transit area. But I only transit through this airport for the great wiener schnizel.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 27 June 2009 by Michael Kasberg

Customer Rating : 3/5

I arrived on transit in the Schengen area and needed a farmacy. I was surprised to hear, that the pharmacy was outside the security area and that it was already closed at 7.00 pm! My onward flight was at 11.20 pm to BKK so I had to change to Terminal C (Non Schengen). As there were nearly no other flights after 8.00 pm nearly all shops were closed, very boaring. I strongly can recommend all passengers to stay in the Schengen area till one hour before their flight from Terminal C. Also the Star Alliance business lounge in the Main Terminal has a lot more to offer than the lounge in C.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 8 June 2009 : by Alex Buenafe

Customer Rating : 4/5

It is compact and one doesn't have to walk a long way to get anywhere. Wifi, shops and smoking lounge was more than I needed, the immigration and customs was a breeze. I took the train for the city just outside the terminal for dirt cheap (I think 1.75 Euro). Departed from Vienna for Toronto - the check in was a breeze. The only drawback is that one has to go through security check to get into the gate departure lounge, and there aren't many seats. The modules are a bit small. Otherwise, I prefer to fly in and out of Vienna for Eastern Europe and beyond.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 6 April 2009 : by B Ward

Customer Rating : 3/5

Arrived in VIE from SYD via LHR on BA. Found it a very sterile airport, passport control and bag pick up was efficient. Was annoyed that upon taxiing to the terminal many of the gates were empty, our flight was parked on an outer bay and we were bussed back to the terminal. We were in an A330. Train to city was good. Staff were not that helpful.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 24 January 2009 : by A Pickles

Customer Rating : 2/5

VIE to HEL on Finnair. Check in was limited to two desks around the corner from main check in desks. Airport is small cramped and surprisingly outdated. I am surprised it scores highly in a sub-regional context. Security is excessively zealous - even rings have to be removed for the scanner. Cost of food and beverages is outrageous more than 4 euros for a coffee! Slated for improvement after the extensions are complete hopefully.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 30 October 2008 : by R Muratovic

Customer Rating : 4/5

I flew out of JFK into Vienna and had a connecting flight into Montenegro. The airport staff was friendly and helpful. I was flying with my grandfather and when we got off the aircraft they waited for him with a wheel chair. The staff member helping my grandfather brought us to the waiting lounge, until it was time to go to our connecting flight, and he came back for us when it was time to go to the gate. Our stop over was 5 hours. The lounges and restaurant were not so bad. Service was very good at the lounges and the staff was friendly. Vienna is a very easy airport to get around, I recommend it to those who don't enjoy hassling through a big airport when having a connecting flight such as Frankfurt, or LHR.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 28 October 2008 : by George Tariff

Customer Rating : 2/5

I agree with Byron Scott's comment about chaos at the "A" gates. The worst part is that most of the long-haul flights depart at the same time (11:00am-12:00pm), so the entire terminal is a zoo. There is nowhere to sit, not even room on the floor. The lines for the washroom are huge, the cafe and restaurant are filled to capacity.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 24 October 2008 : by Byron Scott

Customer Rating : 3/5

Recently transited Vienna while flying Austrian business class ORD to NCE and return. The flights to and from the US left from a gate with a jetway, however the flights to and from Nice required bus rides. For bus rides, it went pretty fast, although on the return (flight from Nice was delayed) it was a long ride. The worst thing was the chaotic departure from the A-gates for flights to the US. You go through security right at the gate, and after you go through security, there is not enough space for all the passengers for a full wide-body plane to sit. It's really crowded and chaotic. There was also a confusing counter, near the gates, which said "US Document Check." I didn't think we had to stand in this line, but there was no way to be sure. Fortunately, a very helpful airport staffer saw us (I was traveling with my elderly uncle, who uses a cane) and looked at our boarding pass and said we didn't need our documents checked (Austrain needs to clarify who needs to stop here on the sign). We then went to the really long security line, and our helpful friend said my uncle was in a wheelchair, we could go to the front of the line. So he grabbed a nearby wheelchair, got us right to the security machines, then got us right up to the jetway. Many thanks to this most helpful person. Until the new terminal opens, I think wide-body flights leaving Vienna will be chaotic, especially at times when lots of flights are leaving at the same time.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 18 October 2008 : by T Vetter

Customer Rating : 3/5

I found Vienna airport crowded and a bit chaotic. Signage is not well done or clear. The rail link from downtown Vienna is convenient but be aware that both the express train and local train only run every 30 minutes. But both arrive right in the lower level of the airport, which is very well designed. Because of a very early flight to Amsterdam, we stayed at the NH Hotel directly across the street from Terminal 1, which is an overpriced albeit very convenient dump.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 25 September 2008 : by Roland Buecheler

Customer Rating : 5/5

With only 30 minutes to change flights in Vienna we left St.Gallen-Altenrhein 45 minutes late. While on final approach we should have been already in the air bound for Dubai. We were awaited on the ground at the aircraft's stairs and driven by a minivan to terminal A. Rushing through security we managed to get our flight. We expected to leave Dubai airport without luggage. But what a surprise, there were our suitcases on the carousel.

VIENNA AIRPORT review : 22 September 2008 : by D Finkler

Customer Rating : 3/5

Had a great experience in Vienna Airport. Very clean and convenient, with plenty of transport to go to the city. Great duty-free shops and plenty of eateries. One of the best airports I have ever visited!