Review: Salzburg Airport

Peter, Reuben and I have just returned from a lovely week away in Austria. Part of that trip involved flying into and out of Salzburg Airport, and I thought it would be fun to give a quick review…!

Salzburg airport is the second largest airport in Austria, second, of course, to the larger airport in Wien. Salzburg airport is also known as W.A. Mozart Airport, though the IATA airport code (SZG) favours the appellation indicating its location, rather than the world-reknown musician who already has chocolates and liqueur bearing his name. Though the second largest airport in the Republic, it is small. There are only seven gates, and more often than not, when your flight has been called for boarding, you’ll need to take a bus to where your plane is located; if it’s raining, you get wet.

Having said that, the airport is clean and well maintained. There were only a couple of things that I was disappointed with. Firstly, there is a smoking zone in the departure lounge for those that have the compulsion to light up. Smoking is still rather popular in Austria and there aren’t the current bans on smoking in public places as in the UK. This was reflected in the location of the smoking zone: right next door to the only cafe in the lounge. It would have been ok if the smoking zone was enclosed with efficient extraction fans, but the room had gaping windows that allowed the cigarette smoke to float into the neighbouring corridor and cafe, which wasn’t too pleasant when we got ourselves something to drink. The other disappointment was the location of the baby changing facilities. Now, prior to this visit, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to this aspect of the building, but what with a four month old who needs feeding and changing regularly, it was unavoidable that I would have an opinion on this.. The changing facilities both prior to and after security were down huge flights of steps without a lift in sight. Thankfully, I was travelling with my husband, who could guard the buggy and belongings while I carried Our Boy to the available dedicated children’s space. I didn’t want to contemplate what it would be like if I was travelling alone. That said, if it came to the crunch and I was travelling on my own with a child who desperately needed changing and/or feeding, I wouldn’t bother traipsing down the steps to the facilities but would opt to use whatever space was available in the lounge, whether it be the floor or a coffee table…!

Despite my misgivings about the poor location of the baby facilities, I cannot in any way criticise their quality. Wow! I haven’t ventured into such good facilities in any airport or department store yet! There were comfortable chairs for feeding, ample space for changing, bottle warming gadgets, no shortage of paper towels, and even a mini electric hob (for whatever you might want to cook)! I was very impressed

The major chocolate treat of Salzburg is the Mozart Kugeln. There are adverts for it throughout the airport and an ample supply in the duty free shop. However, this and the other duty free items have an Austrian price tag and are more expensive than even at our local supermarket (the price of the whiskey there was pricier than at our local Tesco’s..), so it’s worth saving your Euros and treating yourself when you get home..!!

The airport has its quirks, but is very comfortable and, of course, Austria is definitely worth a visit….!!