In the early hours of 27 January the Austrian Armed Forces ended Operation Daedalus26—the annual air-policing mission that safeguards western Austrian airspace during the World Economic Forum in Davos. From 19 to 23 January a 46-kilometre restricted zone stretched across Tyrol and Vorarlberg, with Eurofighter interceptors, Black Hawk helicopters and mobile radar units enforcing a no-fly buffer for VIP traffic into the Swiss resort.
Defence officials reported 254 tracked movements and three confirmed violations, all of which were intercepted and handed over to Swiss controllers under cross-border protocols. Around 1,150 personnel, including 100 reservists, manned alpine observation posts and temporary ground-based air-defence sites. The military confirmed that full civil-aviation freedom has now been restored, allowing business-jet operators to resume normal routings via Innsbruck and Salzburg.
For operators juggling both flight logistics and immigration requirements, VisaHQ can simplify the latter. Its digital platform (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) offers real-time visa guidance, electronic applications and courier support for Austria and neighboring countries, ensuring crews and passengers remain compliant even when last-minute route changes follow shifting airspace restrictions.
![Austrian Air Force lifts Davos flight restrictions after Operation Daedalus26]()
For corporate flight departments and travel managers the lifting of restrictions removes the need for time-consuming re-filings of flight plans and eases slot congestion at alternate airports such as Friedrichshafen and Munich. Logistics firms using aerial drones in Tyrol should note that temporary UAV bans have also expired.
Major General Gerfried Promberger called the exercise a ‘textbook demonstration’ of Austria’s neutrality obligations and its capacity for seamless cross-border cooperation. The data collected will feed into next year’s integrated air-mobility plan, which aims to shorten NOTAM lead-times and streamline security-zone notifications for operators.
Companies planning executive travel to next week’s Munich Security Conference should nonetheless check for fresh airspace notices as similar protective measures are likely over Bavaria and Upper Austria.
Defence officials reported 254 tracked movements and three confirmed violations, all of which were intercepted and handed over to Swiss controllers under cross-border protocols. Around 1,150 personnel, including 100 reservists, manned alpine observation posts and temporary ground-based air-defence sites. The military confirmed that full civil-aviation freedom has now been restored, allowing business-jet operators to resume normal routings via Innsbruck and Salzburg.
For operators juggling both flight logistics and immigration requirements, VisaHQ can simplify the latter. Its digital platform (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) offers real-time visa guidance, electronic applications and courier support for Austria and neighboring countries, ensuring crews and passengers remain compliant even when last-minute route changes follow shifting airspace restrictions.
For corporate flight departments and travel managers the lifting of restrictions removes the need for time-consuming re-filings of flight plans and eases slot congestion at alternate airports such as Friedrichshafen and Munich. Logistics firms using aerial drones in Tyrol should note that temporary UAV bans have also expired.
Major General Gerfried Promberger called the exercise a ‘textbook demonstration’ of Austria’s neutrality obligations and its capacity for seamless cross-border cooperation. The data collected will feed into next year’s integrated air-mobility plan, which aims to shorten NOTAM lead-times and streamline security-zone notifications for operators.
Companies planning executive travel to next week’s Munich Security Conference should nonetheless check for fresh airspace notices as similar protective measures are likely over Bavaria and Upper Austria.
