Going on vacation to Croatia, I flew on Austrian between Paris and Split (via Vienna), which gave me the opportunity to take a short break in the airline’s Senator/Star Gold lounge at terminal 3 of Vienna Schwechat airport (non-Schengen departures in zone G).

For the record, the list of articles related to this trip.

Where is the Austrian Business Lounge (Non Schengen) in Vienna (T3 G)?

After passing through the security checkpoints, follow the well-marked route to the “non-Shengen” departure gates. Once you’ve passed the border police, you’ll find the lounge just beyond on your right, before reaching the boarding gate area.

Who has access to the Austrian business lounge?

This lounge is open to passengers:

• Passengers flying business on Austrian or any Star Alliance airline
• Passengers travelling in Economy on Austrian or a Star Alliance airline and who are Frequent Travelers on Miles&More.

A Star Alliance Gold passenger travelling in business will therefore have a choice between this lounge and the Senator/Star Gold lounge.

Passengers travelling in Economy on a Lufthansa Group airline with a boarding pass for an Austrian flight (operated by Austrian or codeshare) can purchase access for 35 euros.

The Austrian Business Lounge

First of all, it’s important to remember that we were in the midst of a post-COVID reboot. As a result, not all the lounges were open, and the services offered may differ from the normal ones.

What’s more, my visit was very fast. As I explained in the bottom line review of my flight from Paris to Vienna and as you’ll see from my flight from Vienna to Split, I had to make my connection in such a hurry that I was only able to spend enough time in the lounge to take a few photos and quickly freshen up.

The lounge is arranged in an L-shape, with the entrance and a series of high tables in the small bar of the L, followed by the hot food buffet. The large L bar features a cold buffet, beverages, a restaurant area and rest/relaxation areas.

The lounge isn’t large, but it’s more than adequate for its purpose: it accommodates only a fraction of the “Elite” passengers, and Austrian remains a modestly sized airline.

It’s very pleasant, colourful (a change from the Lufthansa lounges…) and overlooks the runways through a long bay window which makes it very bright.

Catering at the Austrian Business Lounge

There’s a good-sized cold buffet with, among other things, prepared salads and snacks.

Because of COVID, everything was in individual portions. I don’t know if there’s normally a more elaborate self-service offer with individual service.

The range of drinks is decent, with softs, wines and beers. Sufficient without being huge.

And finally, there’s a hot food buffet with a person in charge of serving the dishes. Here again I can’t tell you how this differs from the “usual” service.

Meat in sauce, potato dumplings, curry…a mix that appeals to everyone, including the locals.

If I didn’t linger, I took the time to nibble a little hot and cold. It’s more than correct, and even good. Do & Co’s touch is evident in the catering. I regret that the cold dishes, which are very good by the way, are served in such small portions.

Bottom line

A brief visit under “abnormal” conditions is not enough to form an opinion on a lounge that deserves to be revisited over a longer period of time, once the pandemic is over.

But as far as I can tell, it’s a lovely, very pleasant lounge with a varied, high-quality catering offer.

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