Airport Vienna International

Location
First in use in 1954, the airport is in Vienna-Schwechat, about 18 km or 12 miles southeast of Vienna and about 45 km or 30 miles west of Bratislava. Motorists can reach the airport terminal on the A4 highway or the federal road 9.

Between Wien-Mitte main station in Vienna and the airport, the City Airport Train (CAT) operates a regular service, the trip takes about 15 minutes. Alternatively, passengers may take the S Bahn line 7; although this takes about 8 minutes longer to the airport, it costs less than half the price of the CAT.

From Vienna West or South Station, Schwedenplatz / Morsinplatz or the UNO City (VIC), a shuttle service is operated by the "Vienna Airport Lines" (ÖBB). International buses to the airport operate from Budapest, Bratislava, Brno and Prague. All current departure times are available locally or on the Internet.

History
The airport is in the town of Schwechat and was built in 1938, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, as an air base of the former Austrian fighter pilot school. This was housed there until 1945, when some parts of the airport site were used as a concentration camp. After the capitulation of the German Wehrmacht, British allies took over the area until 1954. The airfield in Schwechat then replaced Aspen as the most important air traffic hub in Austria.

Only as late as 1955, after gaining independence and full sovereignty, was a Vienna airport operating company finally established to manage the airport. That same year, the existing runway was extended to 2,000 m and only five years later, further extended to measure 3000 m. A year later in 1960, a new terminal building, now known as Terminal , was also added. Due to rapid growth, a second runway was planned in 1962. However, the Austrian Ministry of Transport only accepted the application in 1972.

As a result of thorough planning and a fair amount of luck due to being an important political link between the East and West of Europe, the airport was able to demonstrate rising passenger numbers during the next decade, and the airport area was therefore further developed. Work included a hangar building for Austrian Airlines, an underground airport station, a cargo hall that is important to this day and a convenience store area in the transit area.

In 1982, a link was established to the eastern motorway A4 / E58, which with only one turn-off leads directly to Bratislava and Budapest. This lead to a further surge in popularity for the airport. Since 1990 and the changing political situation in Central Europe, along with the EU's eastward enlargement, passenger and cargo numbers have increased enormously. Many major global enterprises use Vienna-Schwechat as an airport to transport products and goods to former Warsaw Pact countries. The last major change at the airport was the construction of the new control tower in 2005. Measuring 109 m, it is currently the tallest tower in Europe.