Terminal 1 of Vienna-Schwechat Airport has not been used since March 19, 2020 due to the greatly reduced offer due to the corona pandemic. Since then, the building complex has been slumbering. All shops, check-in counters, gates and restaurants are closed.

Really all? No, the pharmacy holds its position alone in the deserted check-in hall. In contrast to the restaurants and shops, this is not allowed to close due to its statutory supply mandate. So there is at least a bit of life in the otherwise orphaned Terminal 1, where even the Billa supermarket has closed due to a lack of customer frequency. On the Milan Malpensa Airport Incidentally, the pharmacy located in the closed Terminal 2 must also keep open for legal reasons and hold the position there alone.

Terminal 1A opposite, which was built in August 2005 as a provisional facility for three years, but which is a "permanent provisional facility" that has been in place for over 15 years, is also closed. The oldest terminal building, Terminal 2, has only been used as a passage to the security area (B, C and D) since 2013. Modernization work is taking place here, as a central security check is to be located here in the future. A video tour over the sleepy apron of Vienna Airport below this link.

It is still completely unclear when Terminals 1, 1A and 2 will go back into operation. At the moment, Terminal 3 is nowhere near full. The offer of the airlines is greatly reduced and the load factor of many flights is under 20 passengers. Of course there are occasional exceptions to the top, but these are becoming increasingly rare.

The video below shows a small overview of the current situation in the orphaned check-in hall of Terminal 1. Fun fact: The neon sign that was once used to advertise the now insolvent airline Level Europe has been replaced by one from Huawei. The Chinese group must know for itself which “target group” this is to be addressed in the hall, which is only briefly “run through” by a few pharmacy-goers and airport security personnel ...