The Austrian Ministry of the Interior has increased the capacity of border controls at Vienna-Schwechat Airport. It is the largest border crossing point in the republic. 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) also positively highlighted the cooperation with Flughafen Wien AG this week. “The safety of everyone at the airport has top priority, which is why the number of staff is being increased and the technical equipment extensively modernized. I would like to thank Vienna Airport for the close cooperation that has been tried and tested for decades," said the member of the government. 

At peak times, Vienna International Airport handles more than 100.000 passengers per day. According to the Ministry of the Interior, this means that there are extremely different security tasks for the police officers. Various international threats have placed increasing demands on the executive in recent years. Securing the infrastructure plays a special role in this. In the recent past, in addition to purely theoretically possible terrorist actions, the so-called climate glue has also been added. Just a few days ago, the police managed to thwart a disruptive action before the self-proclaimed “climate protectors” were even able to unpack their superglue. 

It happens again and again that passengers, in a hectic rush or out of sheer forgetfulness, forget their luggage somewhere in the airport. Of course, those affected do not hear the corresponding announcements, so that the police have to intervene for security reasons. Fortunately, the content was still completely harmless so far and the officials were able to give the all-clear quickly, but it's safe to say. 

Another important field of activity is criminal investigation: the airport, as a hub for international travel, also involves various forms of crime. A special focus is on the action against drug trafficking, but also against the smuggling mafia. In recent years, extensive measures have been taken in the fight against the smuggler mafia, in which the airport plays a central role. 

Border controls are the third central task of the executive: Vienna-Schwechat Airport is the largest border control point in Austria, which poses a major challenge given the high volume of passengers. Every control must be carried out with regard to aircraft security, airport security and the prevention of illegal entries and the use of forged documents. 

“Holidays mean peak activity at the airport and this can only be managed with good cooperation with all site partners. The cooperation with the executive and the border control at Vienna Airport works excellently and I would like to thank all my colleagues in the authorities and the Ministry of the Interior for their great commitment. Thanks to their commitment, the crime statistics at the location have been declining for many years and Vienna Airport is one of the safest airports in Europe. Our passengers can continue to rely on that, we have just invested a two-digit million amount in the expansion of border control and other fully automatic e-gates," explains Günther Ofner, CEO of Flughafen Wien AG. 

The Minister of the Interior emphasized that they are constantly being put in place in order to further increase security at the airport. In order to intensify border controls, work is being carried out to introduce an automated and Europe-wide registration system for third-country nationals. This is intended to determine the permissible length of stay in the Schengen area, with which visa abuse can be combated and networking with criminal police search systems can be ensured. 

The number of border control booths is to be increased from 40 to 100. These booths will be built in consultation between the police and the airport. In addition, ten more e-gates will be purchased. The staff of the Lower Austria State Police Headquarters has been increased from around 1 to around 2020 since December 540, 660, which corresponds to an increase of over 20 percent. On August 1, 2023, a new course started with border police assistants who support the police officers on site. The training takes place entirely on site at the airport. 

Together with the EKO Cobra, a target group-oriented operational training for the colleagues of the security service Vienna-Schwechat Airport takes place. The ongoing pilot project is to be transferred to regular operation by the end of the year. In addition to the regular operational training, the colleagues receive 40 additional hours of training.