Press Releases & News
Flughafen Wien AG: report on apparently trapped AUA employees proven to be false.
With regard to a report in today’s edition of the “Kronenzeitung“ on alleged security defects at Vienna Airport, Flughafen Wien AG would like to state the following:
At no point in time were AUA employees trapped in the Check-in 3 terminal. During the power outage on 2 July, Austrian Airlines employees used an intercom to report a door malfunction that was not related to the power failure. This was NOT an emergency exit, but a normal operating door with a turnstile. A member of the airport security staff arrived at this location within 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
The airport technicians arrived 12 minutes later ? despite the power failure ? and the necessary repairs were completed in a further 20 minutes.
The employees could have left the building in two directions during these 40 minutes in the event of fire or another emergency. However, airport records show that no one activated the emergency button near the escape doors because there was no crisis situation. These doors open automatically under any such circumstances.
The high security standards that apply to airports require the maintenance of permanent records for security-relevant doors (i.e. a record is created each time these doors are opened or closed). Therefore, the following has been proven and documented: during the time the AUA employees were supposedly trapped, numerous employees entered and left this area. Records show that the doors in this area were opened electronically 77 (!) times.
The statements published in the “Kronenzeitung”, which were taken from internal AUA emails, are therefore clearly false. As indicated by Austrian Airlines in a statement issued yesterday, there was never any security risk and no employees were trapped in the building. Repeated tests by technicians after complaints by AUA personnel confirmed the full functional capability of the emergency door system in every case.
For additional information contact: Flughafen Wien AG Press Office
Peter Kleemann (+43-1-) 7007-23000
Clemens Schleinzer (+43-1-) 7007-22399
Stefanie Tomanek (+43-1-) 7007-26939
c.schleinzer@viennaairport.com