There have been no Austrian Airlines domestic flights between Salzburg and Vienna for some time. These were shifted to rail, but there is a problem: the early wave often cannot be reached due to the travel times of the Railjets.

The state of Salzburg is now calling for an additional connection that should leave Salzburg main station at around 4:00 a.m. This should make it possible for air passengers to catch the morning wave at Vienna-Schwechat Airport, regardless of whether they are flying with Austrian Airlines or another airline.

However, the early flights of Ryanair and Wizz Air are likely to be rather difficult to catch, as many connections take off between 5:00 a.m. and around 7:00 a.m. Due to the travel time from Salzburg Hbf to Vienna-Schwechat Airport, which is around two hours and 49 minutes, things are getting tight.

A connection as cooperation trains (Austrian Airlines/ÖBB) would mean that many morning flights of the AUA are easier to reach from Salzburg. The problem at the moment is that the first train is arriving too late at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. It should not be underestimated that Munich Airport is a serious competitor, because the travel time to Munich-Ost, where you can change to the express train to Franz-Josef-Strauß-Airport, is less than 1,5 hours.

In contrast to the southern railway, there is no allocation of traffic on the western railway line. In concrete terms, this means that the railway companies ÖBB and Westbahn operate independently and do not receive any funding for this. This did not apply to the corona lockdowns, in which both providers received temporary support due to emergency awards.

The request of the Salzburg state government depends primarily on whether ÖBB or Westbahn can make friends with the plan. Theoretically, Salzburg could advertise the desired train throughout Europe and offer it at your own risk. However, this is considered unlikely, since long-distance traffic on the Westbahn route is self-sufficient and subsidized trains would not be an easy undertaking.

Ultimately, however, the demand from Salzburg shows that shifting feeder flights to rail not only has positive sides, but can also have disadvantages. The air traffic once offered by Austrian Airlines was fully coordinated with the hub carrier's wave system. This is largely the case within the framework of the cooperation with ÖBB, but it is a compromise. And this means that the morning wave cannot really be reached from Salzburg.

It's also a bit "moaning" at a high level, because it's not like there aren't any alternatives from Salzburg Airport. For example, the Lufthansa hub in Frankfurt am Main can be reached by air. The hubs of Turkish Airlines and Eurowings can also be reached, so there are several alternatives to changing flights in Vienna-Schwechat. The proximity to Munich and the fact that this airport can now be reached quickly by rail with a maximum of one change should not be underestimated. Many business travelers use Munich as their departure point and it can also be observed that they are increasingly switching from cars to trains due to time constraints. The bottom line is therefore the question: Can an additional Railjet from Salzburg Hbf, which is supposed to serve to reach the morning wave in Vienna-Schwechat, pay off economically?