Vienna Intl Airport

The origin of the Vienna International airport goes back to the year 1938, where on the 14th of May the built of the military airfield between Schwechat and Fischamend began.

In 1942 areas of the complex were taken over by the Heinkel-Flugzeugwerken and the Runway 12/30 with a length of 1500m was constructed as tarmac runway. After an airstrike the Heinkel- Flugzeugwerke were transferred to Rostok.

After war damage (1943-1945), the British occupying power repaired the facilities provisionally in 1945 and installed a "Royal Air Force Station"; As early as 1946, the British European Airways (BEA) flew to Vienna Schwechat. After the Second World War, Vienna Airport took over the role of airport for Vienna from Aspern Airport.

From 1 March 1953, handling was carried out by the Austrian "Austrian Handling Unit", on 11 December 1953 the Vienna Airport Operating Company was founded; she took over the administration and handling on 1 January 1954.

In 1954/1955 the slope was extended to 2000 meters. In 1956, construction work began on the new terminal building (plans by the architects Pfeffer, Klaudy, Hoch, Schimka and Kosina), and in 1959 runway 12/30 was extended to 3000 metres (which meant that Vienna Airport had ICAO category A 1); the new airfield was opened on 17 June 1960.

Later, the slope became an 11/29. The length corresponds to 3500 meters, with a width of 45 meters. In 1962, planning began for a second runway (granting of the permit on 28 December 1972, opening on 6 October 1977). This 16/34 slope measures 3600 meters in length and 45 meters in width.

In December 1975, after completion of an airport shipyard building for Austrian Airlines AUA, a modern cargo import hall was created using the old hangar. In the spring of 1977, the General Aviation Center (GAC) was put into operation (replacement for the Aspern airfield) and in this year the underground station was completed. In July 1979 the V.I.P. & Business Center was opened, in April 1978 the shopping street in the transit area, in the summer of 1983 the Novotel Airport Hotel, in September 1985 the VIE Interpax Lounge.

In 1980-1986, investments amounted to around 1.6 billion shillings. In 1986, the new arrivals and freight hall as well as the data center were opened, in August 1986 the foundation stone was laid for pier east (opening April 14, 1988); From 1990 to 1992, the expansion of Vienna Airport continued (multi-storey car park III, forwarding building, preparatory work for Pier West). On December 20, 1994, pier West was celebrated, and on March 28, 1996, its commissioning took place. As it was assumed that the number of passengers would increase from 8.5 million (1995) to an expected 20 million (2015), discussions began about the construction of a third runway.

The new tower of Vienna Airport, built according to plans by the architects Zechner &Zechner, was built between 2003 and 2005.

The airport is a hub for flights mainly to Eastern Europe and the Middle East and the largest employer in the eastern region of Austria. In 2018, 74 airlines connected it to 205 destinations in 71 countries worldwide.