Austria Lifts UK Travel Ban

Austria has finally lifted its blanket travel ban on UK travellers.

On 15 August, it announced that arrivals from the UK, India, Russia, Botswana, Nepal, South Africa and Zambia can enter the country for non-essential reasons.

Fully vaccinated travellers are no longer required to undergo quarantine. The rules changed after the countries were removed from Austria’s “virus variant areas” list.

The following countries are no longer considered virus variant areas but rather ‘other countries’: Botswana, India, Nepal, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Zambia. Fully vaccinated travellers from these countries do not need to self-isolate anymore.
Official statement on Austria’s Travel Portal

Prior to this, all British travellers were banned from entering Austria for non-essential reasons. Those arriving from the UK for specific essential purposes had to take a PCR test within 72 hours of departure and were subject to a 10-day quarantine.

Austria’s Entry Rule for UK Travellers

The new rules allow vaccinated UK travellers to skip quarantine as long as they can show proof of vaccination.

Travellers must provide proof that they have been double-jabbed with any of the three vaccines administered in the UK. The approved vaccines are Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna and the second dose should be at least 14 days prior to travel to Austria.

Johnson & Johnson, Sinovac, Sinopharm and Covishield vaccines are also accepted. Austria will also accept travellers who have had two doses of two different authorised vaccines.

On the other hand, unvaccinated arrivals from the UK may enter Austria for any reason but are required to present a negative test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 and have a mandatory self-isolation for 10 days.

Austria offers a scheme where unvaccinated visitors can opt to take a test on day 5 of quarantine and be released early if the result is negative.

Austria joined the UK’s green list for international travel at the last traffic light update on 4 August.

Nine-Month Vaccine Deadline in Austria

UK travellers to Austria face a nine-month COVID vaccine certificate deadline if they want to enter the central European country. Amid fears of waning immunity from jabs, Austria has put an expiry date of 270 days on all vaccine certificates for people looking to travel in Austria.

This means anyone from the UK who had their second doses more than nine months before would be barred from going on holiday in Austria.

For example, people who were fully vaccinated in January 2021 will see their certificates expire in October, while those who were fully vaccinated by the end of April would only have a valid pass until the end of January 2022.

The alternative will be for UK travellers to show evidence of a negative COVID test or a recent recovery from the virus to gain entry. However, they will also have to self-isolate for between 5 to 10 days.

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