In Terminal 2 of Vienna-Schwechat Airport, clouds of smoke have been rising again from the toilet facilities since the restart. The reason for this is that, for example, the former “smoking chamber” in gate area C was closed. Corresponding notices have been removed or pasted over.

Shortly after the start of the corona pandemic, Austria's largest airport closed Terminals 1, 1A and 2. Air traffic fell dramatically within a few days, so that all departures and arrivals were handled in Terminal 3. Constantly changing Corona regulations meant that restaurants, lounges and shops had to repeatedly close and then be allowed to open again. The same applied to the "smoke caves" in gate areas F and G.

The Reopening of Terminal 2 with zones B, C and D brought a surprise for smokers, because the previous smoking zones are closed or have been closed. This is most obvious at Pier C, where the information signs have been covered with black foil.

Unfortunately, this also leads to a side effect that is particularly unpleasant for non-smokers: the toilet facilities in the immediate vicinity of the former smoking room are often misused as a "substitute smoking room". The fact that smoking is prohibited "outside the designated smoking areas" seems to be of no interest to some passengers. Thus, there is occasionally a "climate" reminiscent of high school toilets or simply of smoky restaurants.

There is also another circumstance in gate area C: Flughafen Wien AG has in the course of the Recommissioning reduced the number of toilets in the area of ​​the Rundell. Those that were accessible by stairs are blocked. Although there are also "quiet places" in the area of ​​the two bus gate zones - both in the "old" and the "new" - many passengers are simply not aware of this. Incidentally, area B is currently not used in regular air traffic, which is why the signage currently ends at a panel behind which the escalator is located. There would be a toilet facility as well as a smoking room.

Airport has to evaluate needs and refers to the terrace of the Vienna Lounge

The company was unable to explain conclusively why Flughafen Wien AG continues to provide smoking cabins for smoking passengers in Terminal 3 but not in Terminal 2. A spokesman points out, among other things, that the need still has to be checked. You have one option, and that is Outside terrace of the Vienna Lounge. However, this is not a sensible solution for many passengers, because use is subject to a fee and Priority Pass and Dragon Pass, for example, are still not accepted.

A spokesman told Aviation.Direct on request: “The smoking cabins are in Terminal 3 back in service and can be found on levels F and G. They only had to be closed temporarily during the pandemic because operations were not compatible with the mask and distance regulations. Terminal 2 has only recently been back into service. There we check the need. On the Terrace area of ​​the Vienna Lounge smoking is basically possible”.

Unfortunately, it is not the first time that uncontrolled smokers at Vienna Airport feel they have to use the toilets. During the corona-related closure of the "smoke caves" of Terminal 3, this happened repeatedly to the annoyance of non-smokers. It is therefore to be hoped that Flughafen Wien AG will complete its "needs analysis" for Terminal 2 as quickly as possible and find a solution. Until then, passengers will probably have to reckon with the fact that they can encounter smoke from other travelers who do not want to control themselves.