EU adopts 'Visa Cascade' – Thai visitors to get up to 5-year multi-entry Schengen visas, Austria prepares for surge
Austrian MFA issues 17 May update on Italy: passports, pick-pockets and wildfire disruptions top summer travel checklist
ÖBB runs special holiday timetable today: 23 extra trains and 13,500 additional seats to keep Austria’s corridors moving
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Austria activates ‘Smart Border Austria’ e-notification rule for all goods transiting to Switzerland
Austria’s Customs Service confirmed on 16 May 2026 that its Smart Border Austria platform is now mandatory: every shipment transiting Austria to Switzerland must be pre-notified electronically before reaching the frontier. After a 30-April grace period, non-compliant trucks may be refused entry, raising the stakes for supply-chain planners. The move digitises risk controls, cuts queue times and aligns Austria with the EU’s upcoming Entry/Exit System, but smaller hauliers face new IT and training costs.
Eurovision final closes Vienna’s Ringstraße and extends U-Bahn service for thousands of international visitors
To accommodate the Eurovision Song Contest final on 16 May, Vienna closed key sections of the Ringstraße, rerouted trams and ran underground lines at five- to seven-minute headways until the early hours. Event tickets doubled as free public-transport passes, while a 1.5-km drone exclusion zone and strict vehicle-access windows protected Stadthalle and fan zones. The measures kept 160,000 visitors moving but created timing and cost pressures for corporate travellers and logistics providers operating in Austria’s capital.