Austria’s Foreign Ministry (BMEIA) updated its security guidance for the Middle East at 15:00 CET on 6 March 2026 after rocket attacks struck several Gulf airports overnight. The alert maintains Level 6 (no travel) advisories for Bahrain, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, and Level 3 (high risk) for Oman and Saudi Arabia.
![Foreign Ministry issues expanded Middle-East travel warning, operates fourth repatriation flight]()
During such volatile periods, VisaHQ can streamline the administrative side of crisis planning. The company’s Austrian portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) centralises up-to-date entry rules, electronic visa options and passport renewal services, enabling employers and private travellers to verify documentation requirements in minutes and reduce last-minute airport surprises.
The Ministry’s crisis cell has met daily since 29 February and now lists 17,480 Austrians and immediate family members registered in the affected region—1,760 of them short-term travellers. To help citizens leave areas with reduced commercial lift, the Ministry chartered a fourth evacuation flight that departed Abu Dhabi early Friday and was due to land at Vienna Schwechat with 244 passengers on board. Earlier in the week two flights from Muscat and one from Riyadh brought a combined 567 people home, while more than 300 others boarded buses organised by the Austrian embassy network to Amman and Doha, where onward connections remained available. Officials urged all Austrians who have already left the region to deregister from the electronic travel database so resources can focus on those still at risk. Travellers unable to secure seats were told to contact their airlines and to remain flexible: the Lufthansa Group, including Austrian Airlines, is adding short-notice capacity on Vienna–Bangkok and other Asian routes to bypass congested Gulf hubs. For mobility and relocation teams the notice has immediate implications: 1) deploy duty-of-care checks for employees or assignees in the 11 jurisdictions under Level 6 rules; 2) re-route business trips through Istanbul, Singapore or European hubs unaffected by the fighting; 3) expect tightening security controls at Vienna Schwechat’s arrivals area, where a dedicated screening channel for evacuees is now operating. The Ministry signalled that further repatriation flights are possible if airspace closures persist. Companies should therefore monitor the BMEIA website and ensure travellers have Austrian passports or valid residence permits ready for pre-clearance, as manifest deadlines are sometimes as short as six hours.
During such volatile periods, VisaHQ can streamline the administrative side of crisis planning. The company’s Austrian portal (https://www.visahq.com/austria/) centralises up-to-date entry rules, electronic visa options and passport renewal services, enabling employers and private travellers to verify documentation requirements in minutes and reduce last-minute airport surprises.
The Ministry’s crisis cell has met daily since 29 February and now lists 17,480 Austrians and immediate family members registered in the affected region—1,760 of them short-term travellers. To help citizens leave areas with reduced commercial lift, the Ministry chartered a fourth evacuation flight that departed Abu Dhabi early Friday and was due to land at Vienna Schwechat with 244 passengers on board. Earlier in the week two flights from Muscat and one from Riyadh brought a combined 567 people home, while more than 300 others boarded buses organised by the Austrian embassy network to Amman and Doha, where onward connections remained available. Officials urged all Austrians who have already left the region to deregister from the electronic travel database so resources can focus on those still at risk. Travellers unable to secure seats were told to contact their airlines and to remain flexible: the Lufthansa Group, including Austrian Airlines, is adding short-notice capacity on Vienna–Bangkok and other Asian routes to bypass congested Gulf hubs. For mobility and relocation teams the notice has immediate implications: 1) deploy duty-of-care checks for employees or assignees in the 11 jurisdictions under Level 6 rules; 2) re-route business trips through Istanbul, Singapore or European hubs unaffected by the fighting; 3) expect tightening security controls at Vienna Schwechat’s arrivals area, where a dedicated screening channel for evacuees is now operating. The Ministry signalled that further repatriation flights are possible if airspace closures persist. Companies should therefore monitor the BMEIA website and ensure travellers have Austrian passports or valid residence permits ready for pre-clearance, as manifest deadlines are sometimes as short as six hours.
