Corporate travellers hoping to take Austrian Airlines’ OS859/OS860 late-night rotation between Vienna and Tel Aviv will have to rethink their schedules. On 18 January 2026 the carrier confirmed that the service, originally slated to restart on the 19th, will remain grounded until at least 31 January after Lufthansa Group security advisors prolonged their ‘avoidance’ recommendation for Israeli airspace.
Day-time flights continue, but each departure is cleared only after a rolling 24-hour assessment with Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority. This compresses capacity into fewer daylight slots, forcing many travellers to connect via Zurich or Istanbul. It also pushes some itineraries past midnight, raising awkward Schengen-visa validity issues for non-EU nationals whose visas expire on the nominal travel day.
For travellers suddenly discovering that their passports or Schengen visas no longer cover an unexpected spill-over night, VisaHQ can step in quickly. Through its Austrian portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) the service offers expedited renewals, real-time application tracking and dedicated corporate support, ensuring that mobility managers can patch documentation gaps in hours rather than days—handy when itineraries shift at the last minute.
![Austrian Airlines Extends Suspension of Nightly Vienna–Tel Aviv Flight Until 31 January]()
Operational work-arounds carry a price tag. Austrian continues to detour around Iranian airspace and may soon bypass portions of Iraq, adding roughly 20 minutes and two tonnes of fuel per sector. Analysts warn that a temporary fuel surcharge could appear on February tickets if security conditions stagnate.
Mobility managers should alert assignees to the automatic re-booking policy Austrian is applying to the first available daytime flight and budget for unexpected overnight stays in Vienna. Travellers should double-check that their passports and Schengen visas cover spill-over dates and verify the latest lithium-battery rules if re-routed via other carriers.
Looking ahead, the airline will review the suspension weekly. Travel teams are advised to subscribe to the carrier’s SMS alerts and keep at least one back-up routing in traveller profiles until February.
Day-time flights continue, but each departure is cleared only after a rolling 24-hour assessment with Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority. This compresses capacity into fewer daylight slots, forcing many travellers to connect via Zurich or Istanbul. It also pushes some itineraries past midnight, raising awkward Schengen-visa validity issues for non-EU nationals whose visas expire on the nominal travel day.
For travellers suddenly discovering that their passports or Schengen visas no longer cover an unexpected spill-over night, VisaHQ can step in quickly. Through its Austrian portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) the service offers expedited renewals, real-time application tracking and dedicated corporate support, ensuring that mobility managers can patch documentation gaps in hours rather than days—handy when itineraries shift at the last minute.
Operational work-arounds carry a price tag. Austrian continues to detour around Iranian airspace and may soon bypass portions of Iraq, adding roughly 20 minutes and two tonnes of fuel per sector. Analysts warn that a temporary fuel surcharge could appear on February tickets if security conditions stagnate.
Mobility managers should alert assignees to the automatic re-booking policy Austrian is applying to the first available daytime flight and budget for unexpected overnight stays in Vienna. Travellers should double-check that their passports and Schengen visas cover spill-over dates and verify the latest lithium-battery rules if re-routed via other carriers.
Looking ahead, the airline will review the suspension weekly. Travel teams are advised to subscribe to the carrier’s SMS alerts and keep at least one back-up routing in traveller profiles until February.
