At first you didn't want to because you didn't see a need, then you made a big announcement and now you can't because the only plane that's fit to fly is broken. This is roughly how the evacuation operation carried out by the Austrian federal government for citizens who are currently still in Israel can be described.

When Poland and Hungary, among others, had long since begun to evacuate their citizens from Israel, the Austrian Foreign Ministry did not see any need for this. It was pointed out that there would still be enough regular scheduled flights. At this point, only El Al and Ryanair were still flying non-stop between Israel and Austria. The low-cost airline also suspended its services on Monday because a Boeing 737-800 operated by its subsidiary Malta Air had to turn around and make an alternative landing in Paphos due to a missile alarm in Israeli airspace.

On Tuesday, the Austrian federal government boldly announced that a kind of “air bridge” would be set up between Tel Aviv and Paphos. For this purpose, a Lockheed C-130 is to be temporarily stationed at the Cypriot airport. Austrian residents are to be flown from Israel to Cyprus and from there the flight will continue with civilian aircraft. The approach was chosen in order to be able to fly out as many citizens as possible as quickly as possible due to the shorter flight distance.

The thing with the government “announcements”.

As is usual with the current federal government, statements from politicians can rarely be relied upon. A prime example is the 60 euros that should be transferred additionally every month for children of, for example, unemployed people and those receiving minimum income. Politicians promised from July 2023, but so far not a cent has been received by an enormous number of those entitled. Instead of paying in arrears over the months, it was recently said that the transfer should not be cumulative, but should be transferred, for example, in November for July 2023. As long as the appointment holds. Numerous other examples would be that the verbal announcements regarding entry regulations during the Corona pandemic often deviated greatly from the actual regulations and that many “bans” did not actually exist.

The evacuation campaign therefore also has a “small print” that was not clearly communicated. The Foreign Ministry understands that “continuing flights with civilian aircraft” means that the armed forces will unload the citizens in Paphos and from there they should find their own way to Austria. Apparently the government was not aware that this Austrian airport is only served by Ryanair, while its competitors fly from Larnaka Airport, which is some travel time away. If you can no longer get tickets from Ryanair, those affected can prepare for a trip to the island that they have to organize themselves.

Bundesheer C130 could not leave Austria at all

Other states have their return operations completely different. They fly their citizens non-stop to their home countries or organize tickets for connecting connections or book with civilian airlines such as El Al, which are still active from Tel Aviv. It depends on the individual case, but dumping citizens in Cyprus is a solution that only Austrian politicians came up with.

But what was widely announced can end in embarrassment even before the first evacuation flight. Currently only a single C-130 is airworthy. But it was precisely this person who had to abort the take-off because smoke formed in the machine, according to a spokesman for the Austrian armed forces. Due to a lack of alternatives, it was not possible to get a replacement plane ready for take-off so quickly, but the people who were to be flown out are said to have already prepared themselves at Tel Aviv Airport.

High ticket prices between Cyprus and Austria

Passengers also have to be prepared for steep prices for flights from Cyprus to Austria. For example, Austrian Airlines charges 12 euros one-way for departure on October 2023, 1.512,64. On October 13, 2023 it is 312,94 euros in the cheapest case. Ryanair is asking for 12 euros for Paphos-Vienna for October 2023, 333,94, and according to the homepage, Friday, October 13, 2023 is already fully booked. Wizz Air only has free seats again on Saturday, October 14, 2023 from Larnaca. These cost at least 285,76 euros. At competitor Ryanair, tickets for Larnaca-Vienna are only available again for Sunday, October 15, 2023. At the time of the query on October 11, 2023, these cost at least 188,51 euros.

In addition to the non-stop flights, there are numerous options for getting to Vienna with a change at a hub. In general, however, it is clear that the non-stop service between Austria and Cyprus is now scarce and that the airlines apparently sometimes charge very handsomely for the last seats.

In general, people who have booked package holidays have the best cards in the current situation. The tour operator must ensure that you get back to Austria from Israel. It is irrelevant whether a “feeder flight” from the Federal Army to Cyprus is used and the tour operator then issues tickets to the homeland from there or organizes the repatriation in another way. Individual travelers are on their own and there may be no return on travel insurance, as many have clauses that exclude coverage in the event of war and/or terrorism.