Vienna Airport Faces Major Delays as Winter Staffing Shortages Persist: What New Updates You Need to Know

Vienna International Airport (VIE) is the main airport for not only Austria but also its neighboring countries, including eastern Hungary and Bratislava. VIE has recorded some of the longest wait times for arrivals and departures. Based on data captured from the Flightera analytics website, as of February 8, 2026, 6 PM, approximately 19% of all departures at VIE were delayed. Travelers had to wait on average 39 minutes past their scheduled departure times. Although arrivals are slightly better, only 10% of arrivals were on time, which is still better than the average wait time but still negatively affects the traveler’s experience and satisfaction.

The Airport Staff is Missing

Delays are a result of VIE having significant staffing shortages, especially during the winter season. Winter contract workers on the ground handling team experience absenteeism at higher than average rates. Winter contract employees handle a large majority of the ground handling positions. This leaves way too few employees to service all of the arriving and departing flights. This increased the amount of time flights were delayed, which negatively impacted on-time performance for flights departing at VIE.

Austrian Airlines is especially impacted. For now, they have the restriction of offering their services at temporary intervals and have had to put their supervisors at the operations control center on ramp duty to assist ground handling. They are also trying to minimize the complexity of delays by extending voluntary re-booking to passengers connecting within six hours.

Winter Staffing Problems at the Airport

Despite the arrival of winter, the airport is still facing staffing problems and operational stress. Ground handlers are creating additional inefficient turnarounds. At ground handling, the evening hours are especially busy, so the available ground handlers create a bottleneck at VIE.

Because of the continuing airport issues, airport officials have suggested some corporate passengers, particularly those with critical travel plans, find different cities with larger airports, like Munich, or Zurich, to travel to. This suggestion is also relevant for those on time-restricted trips in the Schengen zone. Delays in Schengen zone approaches may lead to time-limit restrictions, especially for Friday night diversions. Friday night diversions can increase costs or cause passengers to miss the travel limit set by the Schengen rule, which requires travelers to leave the area within 90 days.

Fallen International & Corporate Traveler Services from VIE

International business travelers depend on Vienna International Airport. This is the case not only for Austria but also for the surrounding areas, namely, western Hungary and Bratislava, which is located to the south of Vienna. Delays at this airport can lead to business travelers losing time and money. Significant delays at Vienna International Airport can also cause problems for travelers who have connecting flights on Austrian Airlines and other airlines that serve key European and international destinations. This is especially true for travelers who are on business trips that have a critical departure and return component.

Considering that a large number of the passengers that use the Vienna International Airport are business people, the airport understands the impact of the delays such as extending work hours or having to work overtime. Also, delays that affect international travel may have implications for the travelers, especially if the delays go beyond the allowed stay of the traveler. Such delays may result in violation of the traveler’s visas.

Potential Improvements in Staffing

The winter months have been quite challenging, especially with the persistent staffing challenges, but reports from airport sources indicate that from the end of March 2026, these challenges should begin to ease. With the airport gearing back up for full operational staffing, it is expected that the flow of operations will improve, reducing the number of delays in flight turnarounds.

Currently, the challenge remains with the mobility team as well as the other travelers to remain on top of live delay information. With live delay information, decisions can be made regarding connections or other routes. The staffing deficiencies, in combination with the winter peak season, have led to delays that the airport and airline partners have been working to alleviate.

Moving Forward: Tracking the Performance of VIE

As Vienna fills the remaining gaps in its staffing, mobility teams, in particular those dealing with time-sensitive travelers, should keep monitoring the delay ratio in real time. Given the circumstances, travelers with time-sensitive connections might consider alternative travel options through Munich or Zurich, as these may provide smoother travel experiences.

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