The date is January 28, 2013, just after 8 p.m. The Vienna airport is entirely lethargic. Well, not entirely… A small group of indomitable merchants still holds out against renovation and early closing. And life is not easy for the straying tourists around these shops selling Duty Free goods, luxury clothes, magazines, and typical Austrian sweets…
In the Schengen transit area (before going through passport control), there is not a single seat to be found. Lots of shops are closed – and the majority of them look like closed up for good, not only because of the "late" hour.
Granted, there really were only very few travellers around, and maybe the situation is better in the new "Check-In 3", but still: Currently, the airport resembles more a provincial airport than an airport of the cosmopolitan city that Vienna would like to be.
Interessant, dabei würden ja viele behaupten, dass wir mit Schwechat den ultimativen CEE Hub haben. Die meisten Ungarn zB fliegen prinzipiell lieber aus Wien in die Welt, liest man immer wieder.
Eigentlich entspricht der beschriebene Zustand nicht meiner bisherigen Erfahrung, darum war ich ja dermaßen überrascht.
Allerdings war es z.B. auch am Flughafen von Los Angeles (der ja wahrlich kein kleiner Flughafen ist) so, dass spätabends kaum mehr Geschäfte offen hatten. Selbst der Burger King hat um 21.00 Uhr zugesperrt!
Vielleicht ist der beschriebene Zustand um diese Uhrzeit also normal?