Starting July 1, Austria is open to welcome travelers from UAE and across GCC who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The European country of Austria that is famous for its ornate palaces and untouched nature is reopening to fully vaccinated travelers from more destinations next month onwards. Unvaccinated children under 18 are also welcome to visit.

Fully vaccinated citizens and residents from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar will be able to fly to Austria without any requirements of qu7arantine.

Six vaccines are accepted for travel to Austria: Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sinovac. Travelers are considered to be vaccinated for six months after receiving their final dose.

Austrian Tourism Board has launched a campaign called ‘Travel Builds Bridges’, with the aim of "rebuilding the bridge between people and countries to once again celebrate the freedom of travel and tourism". The campaign will be across 15 countries and aims to encourage people to travel to Austria for holidays, business, education and medical tourism. 

"Welcoming travelers from the GCC is not only a revival to the tourism scene in Austria, yet a great opportunity to explore and exchange experiences, strengthen cross-cultural ties and join forces in bridging between people to better promote travel and tourism between Austria and the Gulf countries," said Robert Groblacher, director for Middle East at the Austrian National Tourist Office. "We are looking forward to welcoming travelers from this region to Austria again."

Travelers from Saudi Arabia can visit Austria already provided they can show a vaccination certificate, proof of recovery from Covid-19 or a negative PCR test.

Travelers with passports from the EU, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are also permitted to visit Austria for tourism purposes. 

Emirates and Etihad flying direct to Austria

Flights from the UAE to Austria are six and a half hours long and with many options for travel. Etihad will operate flights from Abu Dhabi to Vienna from Sunday, July 18 with fares from Dh1,995.

Emirates flies direct to the Austrian capital from Dubai with fares from Dh1,800. Low-cost airline flydubai will operate flights from Dubai to Salzburg, the city of music, from Thursday, July 15. 

Passengers flying from Austria into the UAE capital will also not be required to quarantine as the country is listed on Abu Dhabi's Green List. Elsewhere in the region, Qatar Airways operates flights three to four times weekly from Doha to Vienna. 

Saudi Arabia's flynas and Saudia are planning to add Austria to their networks by mid-July, which will give travelers from the kingdom direct options for travel to Austria.