Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, Vienna International Airport has only used gate areas F and G for flight operations. For some time now there has also been “double bus boarding”, in which passengers are carted to the C bus gates in order to be able to board another apron bus to the aircraft.

While there was significantly more space available to passengers in terms of area “before Corona”, Terminal 3, which is already narrow, gets pretty tight at peak times. Not only in the summer months, but also now it is often overcrowded. Recommended minimum distances, but no longer prescribed by the federal government, cannot be adhered to.

While other airports have increased the number of vehicles used for bus boarding, this route has never been taken in Vienna-Schwechat. To this day, the apron buses are as tight as ever. Occasionally, passengers are also “temporarily stored” in gangways and staircases until the bus or plane is ready to board. This can sometimes take half an hour. During the entire corona pandemic, this questionable boarding procedure, which low-cost airlines brought to Vienna and is of course also used on Austrian Airlines flights, was carried out.

Terminal 3 was planned and built at a time when Vienna Airport was exposed to strong political influence. It is therefore not surprising that from today's perspective it is a faulty construction that would no longer be built in this form. Back then it was more about building a monstrous terminal to make Vienna look bigger. When planning, no one thought for a second that a long, narrow hose can quickly become clogged. Overload was not an issue, because you still had Terminals 1 and 2.

It is precisely these that have not been used since March 2020, which is why it is becoming increasingly narrow in both the arrival and departure areas of Terminal 3. So it is high time that Flughafen Wien AG finally put the much more spacious gate areas in Terminals 1 and 2 back into operation, making flying more pleasant again. With regard to the corona pandemic, one would also send a signal that one takes the issues of distances and measures seriously and not only accept overcrowded lounge and overcrowded Terminal 3 in order to keep costs low.