AirPort

HIGH FLYING

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the largest regional airport in Austria takes its name from the first musical son, but W. A. Mozart Airport has come a long way from its beginnings getting on for a century ago.

Salzburg Airport, as it’s more commonly known, is a thoroughly modern and busy airport (1.63 million passengers in 2010) and has a new website to match (in both English and German), making for seriously joined-up travel whether you’re flying with babies and buggies, on business or require special treatment, whether your VIP stands for ‘very infirm’or ‘very important’.

There are also some clever touches, such as a passenger-pleasing postal returns service for confiscated items such as toiletries that don’t fit regulation size (the returns service is only for travellers flying from and returning to Salzburg, for a small fee). And some fun ones, such as a celebrity photo gallery (the legendary Ringo Starr on a recent visit), a page of airport cartoons, and a fascinating link where you can watch air traffic live over Europe and the rest of the world with Flightradar24. Really handy is a 360-degree interactive tour of the airport. Mobile phone users now have a new web version (again, in English and German) with info such as arrivals and departures, the weekly timetable, tips for airport access, parking fees, check-in, shops and restaurants.

So handy for the city, at just two miles (3.1km) away, Salzburg Airport is also only a mile from the German border and a gateway to some of the best skiing on the continent, including the ski amadé region, the largest network of linked ski resorts in Europe. In 2004 a second terminal was opened, used for passengers in the busy winter season and during the rest of the year the huge space is used as an event location – amadeus terminal 2 finds itself regularly transformed for smart awards dinners and other occasions.

Jointly owned by the City (25 per cent) and the State of Salzburg (75 per cent), the airport is an important contributor to the economy, bringing tourist Euros into the area and providing stable jobs.

There are well-organised public transport services into the city of Salzburg – take trolleybuses number 2 or 8, both of which arrive every 10 minutes, and you’re at the main station and the inner city in around half an hour or less (you can download a route map from the website). Car drivers have access to just over 1,900 indoor spaces, with another 1,230 in around five minutes drive of the terminals.

Inside the airport, there’s a leftluggage service, particularly handy if you want to eat and shop at the terminal without being weighed down with cases and bags. For those with children, there’s baby changing and a children’s play corner in each terminal. There’s also free wireless Internet service, a post office, bank (open Sundays too), bakery, newsagents and restaurants.

A news section on the website regularly updates on new airport developments, and the airport management say their plans are always governed by ‘professionalism and efficiency’. Their motto? ‘Quality before quantity’. ■

Flight connections from the UK to Salzburg

• London Gatwick – British Airways, easyJet, Thomson Airways • London Stansted – Ryanair • Bristol – easyJet • Manchester – Thomson Airways • Birmingham – flybe • Glasgow – BMI • Newcastle – Thomson Airways

Tour operators offering charter flights include Crystal, First Choice, Inghams, Neilson, Thomas Cook UK, Thomson, Topflight, TUI UK. In 1926 the Salzburg Municipal Airfield was opened nearly at the same site where the airport stands today, with a wooden terminal and grass landing strip.

The current passenger terminal was inaugurated in 1966.

1984 saw the first Air France Concorde landing at the airport.

The magical figure of a million passengers annually was reached in 1993.

In 1996 the airport adopted the name of its most famous son – W. A. Mozart.

Budget carrier Ryanair made Salzburg its very first Austrian destination, in 2001, and was the first lowcost carrier to start flights to the city.