Austria will be the first Alpine country to open a common border with Germany. This is supposed to happen in mid-June. Starting from may 15, Austria will lift some restrictions on movement across the border of the two countries. This was announced by the Minister of tourism of Austria MS Elisabeth Koestinger. Currently, there are strict border controls between the countries, and entry and exit between Austria and neighboring countries is only possible in exceptional cases.
Earlier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, together with the Austrian Chancellor, approved a plan to ease restrictions, which will consist of two stages. In the second stage, which is expected to start on June 15, the border between the countries will be reopened for entry and exit.
In Austria, restrictions related to coronavirus are gradually being lifted. Tourist infrastructure, hotels, apartments and accommodation facilities in the mountains will be open starting from may 29, but will operate subject to strict restrictions. From may 15, bars and restaurants will gradually open, and some lifts in Tyrol and other Austrian regions are expected to open at the end of may. In particular, from may 29, the lifts and the glacier in Hintertux will start working, so it will be possible to ride on the largest glacier available in summer in Austria. In Selden, accommodation facilities are also gradually opening in mid-may, but there is no information about the date of the expected start of operation of the lifts.
When opening the tourist infrastructure in Austria, we intend to adhere to strict security measures and respect the social distance between tourists. Currently, there is a limited air service between the airports of Vienna, Innsbruck and Salzburg. Austrian Airlines stopped all flights until the end of may. Train services between Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic have been suspended, with only a few trains running between Austria, Germany and Hungary. Regional trains will gradually resume running starting this week.
Entry to the country for tourists from Russia is not yet possible. In addition, all travelers to Austria must have an approved medical certificate of a negative test for COVID-19, and in its absence, entry will be denied. Citizens of non-EU countries who arrived in Austria from the Schengen area are required to remain in a 14-day quarantine after arrival, even if they have negative results of tests for coronavirus.
Transit movement through Austria is currently only possible without making long stops.
It is planned that as the number of cases of coronavirus infection decreases, restrictive measures will be gradually removed. In Austria, about 16 thousand cases of COVID-19 have been registered to date, of which 624 people have died. In neighboring Germany, which is one of the leading places in terms of the number of tourists in Austrian resorts, 173327 people fell ill and 7756 died.
