Austria to lift Balkan flight ban

Austria will lift a two-week ban on commercial flights from the majority of Balkan countries as of tomorrow, allowing for the resumption of scheduled operations. A new Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) - an aviation document informing all carriers of important and urgent messages – has been issued, noting the air traffic ban will be lifted at midnight on August 1. However, Austria has introduced strict new measures for those entering the country. Flights will now be able to resume from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro to the central European nation. Austria is also lifting bans on flights from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Portugal, China, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Egypt and Iran. Austria is one of the largest travel markets from the former Yugoslavia and Austrian Airlines itself has said it has been severely affected by the government’s flight bans, which were introduced to help contain the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19.

As of tomorrow, Air Serbia will resume operations from Belgrade to Vienna. Services will run daily, alternating between a morning and evening departure. On August 2, the Serbian carrier will restore operations from Niš to Salzburg and from Kraljevo to Vienna. Budget airline Wizz Air will resume services from Niš to Vienna on August 9, at a reduced frequency of one flight per week until September. The low cost carrier will restore a one weekly service from Pristina and Ohrid to the Austrian capital from August 1, increasing to four weekly and three weekly respectively from September. Furthermore, Wizz Air will go ahead with the launch of its new Vienna - Podgorica service tomorrow, albeit at a reduced one weekly frequency, increasing to two weekly the following month. The budget airline previously announced it would delay the resumption of its Tuzla - Vienna service until mid-September. Montenegro Airlines will resume a one weekly service between Podgorica and Vienna on August 8.

Austrian Airlines is also returning to markets in the former Yugoslavia as of tomorrow. Services to Belgrade and Podgorica commence on August 1 and will initially run five and seven times per week, respectively. Operations to Pristina and Skopje also commence this Saturday and will be maintained ten times per week. Services between Vienna and Sarajevo will operate nine times per week as of tomorrow.

Foreign nationals are prohibited from entering Austria from the abovementioned Balkan states. All persons arriving in Austria are required to carry proof of a negative result for Covid-19 issued no more than 72 hours prior to departure using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and self-isolate for ten days. Those unable to produce such proof must undergo testing upon arrival and self-isolate for ten days, regardless whether the result is negative.