Austria To Open Its Borders To 31 Countries Next Week But Not The UK

10th June 2020

Last modified on May 14th, 2021

The UK will not be one of those countries, due to its high number of cases of coronavirus and its current position in battling the pandemic.

The 14-day quarantine measure the UK put in place this week that impacts on Austrian visitors is also a factor.

Sweden, Spain and others are also excluded by Vienna.

“The opening of the border to UK visitors will also depend on the actions of the UK government,” said a source at the Austria National Tourist Office to PlanetSKI.

“If, for example, Austria (but also the other European countries) will be exempt from the current quarantine regulations.”

“Furthermore, the FCO still advises British nationals against all but essential international travel.”

The border with Italy will be opened, but there will be a partial travel warning for Lombardy which was the Province in Italy worst hit by coronavirus.

Austria reopens its borders

It will likely give a significant boost to summer tourism in the Alps as it tries to restart.

Already three ski resorts have opened for summer skiing and snowboarding as we reported earlier, Summer skiing starts in Austria.

The ski resorts of Ischgl and St Anton had significant cases of coronavirus at the beginning of the outbreak and have been seen as spreaders of the virus in Austria and across Europe.

However the authorities clamped down quickly with a strict and enforced lockdown once the threat of covid-19 became clear.

Austria is seen by some as one of the countries in Europe that has handled the pandemic well.

It has had 17,005 recorded cases and 673 deaths.

The Tirol has been anticipating the move with a series of images and messages on social media recently.

Tirol, Austria

Tirol, Austria

“The Austrian government will evaluate the other countries along the next weeks,” said a senior figure in Tirol Tourism to PlanetSKI.

“Hopefully soon.”

The UK  tour operator, Inghams, has cancelled its July arrivals into the Tirol, but here at PlanetSKI we understand the August dates are still booked.

Flights from the UK to Innsbruck in the Tirol start at the beginning of August and can now be booked on the various websites.

London Gatwick (LGW) to Innsbruck with easyJet starting from  8th august 2020: 3 times per week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday)

London Heathrow (LHR) to Innsbruck with British Airways starting from 1st of August 2020: 3 times per week (Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday)

Manchester (MAN) to Innsbruck with Jet2.com starting from  15th of July  2020: 2 times per week (Wednesday and Saturday)

Birmingham (BHX) to Innsbruck mit Jet2.com from 15th of July 2020: once per week (Wednesday)

Flights resume into other airports too.

Salzburg: 
STN – Salzburg with Ryanair from 3.7., 2 times per week (Monday and Friday)
LGW – Salzburg with BA from 7.7., 2 times per week (Tuesday and Friday)

Vienna: 
LHR – Wien with AUA from 18.6., at least one flight per day (except on 20.6)
LHR – Wien with BA from 1.7., 6x (Monday-Friday, Saturday)
Germany will lift its border controls with Switzerland, Austria France and Denmark on Monday 15th.