Austria has published a fully consolidated version of the Foreigners Police Act (Fremdenpolizeigesetz 2005) dated 7 October 2026 that fundamentally tightens the obligations of airlines, coach companies and ferry operators that bring travellers across Austria’s external Schengen borders. The revised §111 now obliges every carrier to verify the travel document and – where applicable – the visa or other entry entitlement of each passenger before boarding. For the first time, carriers must also collect seven categories of passenger data (name, date of birth, nationality, document type/number/expiry/issuing state, departure point, planned border-crossing point, departure and arrival time, and – for flights – the flight number) and keep it available for 24 hours after arrival for inspection by border police. §111(3) introduces an advance–passenger-information (API) requirement: the dataset must be transmitted electronically to Austria’s border-control authority as soon as “check-in formalities are finalised”. Failure to comply has been moved from the general administrative penalty catalogue to a dedicated §112. Fines rise sharply: the minimum penalty doubles to €5,000 and the ceiling rises to €15,000 per infringement. The law clarifies that penalties are waived only where the passenger is ultimately recognised as entitled to international protection or where removal is prohibited on humanitarian grounds. For global mobility managers the change has two immediate consequences. First, airlines and coach operators serving Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and other external-border airports must upgrade systems to extract and transmit the mandatory data elements; API testing with the Ministry of the Interior is expected to open in November. Second, employers arranging travel for non-EU assignees must make absolutely sure staff hold the exact travel document and visa shown in booking systems – boarding may be refused if the carrier fears fines. Background: The amendment aligns Austrian law with the EU’s Screening and Interoperability Regulations, the Entry/Exit System (EES) and ETIAS, all of which demand that carriers feed accurate data into the EU’s shared IT platforms. In practice, Austria is rolling out an interface modelled on Belgium’s “BNG” and Germany’s “APIS” feeds. A follow-up ministerial regulation will define formats and encryption standards; the Ministry has indicated that IATA’s PAXLST schema will serve as baseline. Multinationals should brief travel teams and mobility vendors now: from 7 January 2027 – 90 days after promulgation – Austrian police will start issuing fines without a grace period, and repeat violations can trigger carrier-liability audits and even route suspensions.
