Austrian Airlines announced on Wednesday the cancellation of numerous flights through July 31, 2020 due to an expanded list of landing bans by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection.
Today (July 15, 2020), Austrian Airlines announced the cancellation of numerous flights, primarily from the Balkans, through July 31, 2020, due to new Austrian Federal Government landing restrictions. The Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection has massively expanded their list of landing bans from August 16, 2020 through August 31, 2020. From tomorrow, regular flights from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia will not be permitted to land in Austria. Additionally, the ban on flights already in place from Great Britain, Sweden and Ukraine has been extended through the end of July. In Wednesday’s announcement, Austrian Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer, Andreas Otto said,
“Of course, we understand that health is a top priority in the current situation. It remains a common goal to contain the pandemic. However, cross-the-board travel band for entire countries – with extremely short notice – are an enormous challenge for us and our guests. We advocate a uniform and stable travel policy within the EU so as not to weaken Vienna’s position as a flight hub in the long term. Business travelers and other transfer passengers will otherwise find alternative ways of getting to long-haul destinations. Together with the authorities and the airport, we want and must find a solution for transfer traffic in order to prevent uncontrolled entry as fast as possible.”
As a result of the expanded landing bans, Austrian Airlines has been forced to cancel all flights between Vienna and numerous destinations from July 16, 2020 through July 31, 2020. Flight cancellations include service to/from Belgrade, Cairo, Kyiv, London, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Sibiu, Skopje, Sofia, Stockholm, Tirana, and Varna. Transfer passengers will also be impacted who might have otherwise connected in Vienna to long-haul flights on Austrian Airlines to destinations such as the United States. Guests impacted by the flight cancellations can make use of numerous rebooking options for travel through 2021 or apply for a refund on the Austrian Airlines website.
Source: Austrian Airlines