Airline tickets from Chisinau to Vienna

Chișinău - Vienna Tickets: Flights, Flight Time and What to Know Before You Fly

According to the SkyUp schedule published by Vienna Airport, the plane departs from Chișinău at 09:55 and lands at 10:40. The clock shows only 45 minutes have passed, although you spent about 1 hour 45 minutes in the air: Vienna is one hour behind Moldova. For a short trip this is pleasant arithmetic, since you don't lose the day. Chișinău - Vienna tickets start from €47, and the price calendar above shows which months are cheaper.

Direct flights are currently operated by Austrian Airlines. SkyUp will join later: its launch is scheduled for 25 March 2027. Lufthansa does not fly directly from Chișinău to Vienna; its route involves a connection, and below we look at when such an option makes sense.

What	Details
Arrival airport	Vienna International Airport, code VIE, in the town of Schwechat, about 18 km from the city centre
Direct flight now	Austrian Airlines
Direct flight from spring 2027	SkyUp
Flight time	about 1 h 45 min
Time difference	Vienna is 1 hour behind Chișinău
Arrival terminal	Austrian lands at Terminal 3 (according to schedules)
Currency	euro
Documents	biometric passport, no visa required

The three airlines searched for most often behave differently on this route:

Airline	How to get there from Chișinău	What to consider
Austrian Airlines	Direct flight. According to the airline, there are about 13 flights a week between Vienna and Chișinău	The cheapest fare has a baggage limit, details below
SkyUp	Direct flights from 25 March 2027, on Thursdays and Sundays, Boeing 737. From Chișinău at 09:55, arriving in Vienna at 10:40. Return from Vienna at 11:40, arriving in Chișinău at 14:25	The schedule was announced in advance and may change before launch. Thursday and Sunday fit a four-day trip perfectly
Lufthansa	No direct flight to Vienna. From Chișinău, Lufthansa planes fly to Frankfurt, and a connection is needed from there	The straight-line distance to Vienna is 937 km, to Frankfurt 1534 km, so the route is a detour. Look at the total travel time, not just the price

Read the Austrian baggage conditions before paying. According to the rules on the airline's website, the cheapest Economy Basic fare on short and medium routes includes only a personal item measuring 40 x 30 x 15 cm. Hand luggage of 55 x 40 x 23 cm and up to 8 kg is included in higher fares, and on cheap fares checked baggage is usually paid. If you are travelling light for a weekend, a personal item is enough. If you plan to bring souvenirs back, it is better to buy a baggage allowance in advance: at the airport it is usually more expensive.

Is it more convenient to fly from Iași? See Iași - Vienna. And the return flight is collected on the Vienna - Chișinău page.

How to Get from Vienna Airport to the City Centre and How Much It Costs

The trip from the airport into the city costs from €5.50 by train to €42 by taxi and takes 15 to 45 minutes. There is a caveat for 2026 and 2027: from 7 September 2026 until the end of October 2027 the central section of the city railway between Praterstern and Hauptbahnhof is closed for modernisation. So the CAT train temporarily runs as a bus, and the S7 from the airport follows a shortened route. Older guidebooks describe the previous arrangement, so check the publication date.

Option	Where it takes you	Journey time	Cost	Who it suits
Railjet or Intercity	Hauptbahnhof (U1 metro), less often Meidling	about 15 minutes to Hauptbahnhof, trains twice an hour	€5.50, the ticket includes one trip within the city	Hotels near Hauptbahnhof and in the south of the centre
REX7	Hauptbahnhof	about 20 minutes	€5.50	When the Railjet has just left
S7	St. Marx, then tram 18 or 71 or bus 74A	longer, with a change	€5.50	If there is a tram 18 or 71 stop near your hotel
CAT (now a bus)	Wien Mitte/Landstraße (U3 and U4 metro), stop Marxergasse 1b	21 minutes non-stop, up to 5 departures an hour	€14.90, children under 15 free	The centre near Stephansplatz and the Ring
Vienna Airport Bus	Schwedenplatz, Hauptbahnhof and Westbahnhof, Karlsplatz, Praterstern	from 22 minutes to Schwedenplatz, about 40 minutes to Hauptbahnhof and Westbahnhof	about €9-12, cheaper online	Hotels near these stops, night services available
Fixed-price taxi	Any address	25-45 minutes, depending on traffic	Taxi 40100: €42 per car for up to 4 people, other companies about €39-46	Four people with suitcases and late in the evening

If your hotel is near Hauptbahnhof, take the Railjet: 15 minutes non-stop, then the metro. The quickest way to Stephansplatz is via Wien Mitte: the CAT gets you there in 21 minutes, and from the station to the cathedral it is about 12 minutes on foot. With four people, a fixed-price taxi works out at a little over €10 per person, with no changes.

Train tickets are bought in the ÖBB app or at the machines in the station beneath the terminals; the machines accept cards and cash. For the CAT, an online ticket is valid for six months. Book a taxi in advance: the price is fixed before the trip. You can also check transfer options in the “Transfers” section on Zbor.md.

What to Know About Vienna Airport Before You Arrive and Depart

Austrian lands at Terminal 3. The Railjet station is beneath the terminals, there is a short walk inside the building to the arrivals hall, and the CAT bus departs from the stop by Terminal 3. A tourist information desk operates in the arrivals hall, daily from 9:00 to 18:00.

Since 10 April 2026 the EES system has been operating at all external Schengen borders. If you are not an EU citizen, on your first entry your fingerprints will be taken and you will be photographed, and instead of a stamp in your passport a digital record remains. The passport control queue may therefore be longer than usual, so leave a time buffer when departing from Vienna too.

The situation with liquids in hand luggage is changing. Vienna Airport is switching to new CT scanners, after which the 100 ml limit should disappear, but the deadlines have shifted. Check the rule on viennaairport.com before you fly, and put a bottle of oil or wine from a souvenir set into checked baggage just in case.

Do You Need a Visa and a Passport to Fly from Chișinău to Vienna

No visa is needed, but a passport is mandatory and only a biometric one. Citizens of Moldova with such a passport travel to Schengen countries without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, and Austria is no exception. Visa-free travel has applied since 28 April 2014, and a passport without a chip does not qualify.

Check your passport's validity in advance: it must be valid for at least three months after the planned departure date and must have been issued no more than ten years ago. At the border you may be asked about the purpose of your trip, so keep your return ticket and proof of accommodation to hand. Medical insurance is not mandatory for visa-free entry, but treatment abroad is expensive, so it is sensible to take some out.

There is also something new. ETIAS, the entry authorisation for citizens of visa-free countries, is planned for Moldovans too, but the system is not currently running and applications are not being accepted. The EU will announce the launch date several months ahead, and you will be able to apply only on the official portal travel-europe.europa.eu. Do not pay third-party sites that promise ETIAS today. If you hold a passport from another country, the rules will be different and must be checked separately.

Which Currency to Bring to Vienna and How to Pay There

Bring euros. Cash is needed in Vienna more often than you would expect from a European capital: according to the ECB, in 2022 about 70% of payments in shops were made in cash by number of transactions. Cards work almost everywhere, but small cafés, kiosks, Christmas stalls and heurigers often ask for cash.

Exchange money in advance only for small change: the automobile club ÖAMTC advises against exchanging small amounts because of minimum fees, and it is often better to withdraw cash from an ATM on the spot. Choose ATMs with a bank's logo, as standalone Euronet machines charge a withdrawal fee. If an ATM or terminal offers to charge the amount in your own currency, decline and choose euros: the rate is better that way.

Tipping in Vienna is done by rounding up: in a café you tell the waiter the amount you want to leave, and in a restaurant about 5-10% is added. With your phone it is easier than before: since 1 January 2026 Orange, Moldcell and Moldtelecom subscribers use their minutes, SMS and internet package in EU countries at the same rates as at home. Fair-use limits differ between operators, so check with yours.

How Much a Trip Costs: Approximate Expenses in Vienna

Below are 2026 prices, excluding plane tickets. Hotels and food depend heavily on the date, so treat these as a guide, not a price list.

Item	Guide	Comment
One trip by metro, tram or bus	€3.20 on paper, €3.00 in the app	Valid for up to 80 minutes, changes included, a return trip on one ticket is not allowed
24-hour pass	€10.20, about €9.70 in the app	The 48- and 72-hour tickets were abolished on 1 January 2026, replaced by two day passes
Vienna City Card	from €19	Transport plus discounts in museums and cafés, options from 24 hours to 7 days
Hostel bed	about €16-25	According to aggregators for September 2026
3-star hotel	about €70-80 per room	Depends on the season and the balls
City tax on accommodation	5% of the room price until 30 June 2027, 8% from 1 July 2027	Calculated on the accommodation price excluding VAT and breakfast, paid with the hotel bill
Melange in a café	about €5	You can sit for a long time, water is brought automatically
A slice of Sachertorte	€6-9	Depends on the venue
Main course and a drink in a Gasthaus	about €15-20	Portions are large, one schnitzel is often enough for two
Sausages at a Würstelstand kiosk	€5-10	Sometimes cash only

The city tax rose from 3.2% to 5% in July 2026 and will rise again in 2027, so factor it into your budget when choosing a hotel: on an €80 room it is about €4 a night.

What to Bring Home from Vienna to Moldova and How to Visit the Markets

The classic works: an original Sachertorte is sold in a wooden box and, according to the confectioner, keeps for several days without refrigeration, so it is carried in both hand luggage and suitcases. The Sacher Confiserie shop is at Kärntner Straße 38 near the opera, and you can also arrange for the cake to be shipped home from there. Look for the word Original on the box, otherwise you will just get a chocolate cake.

For those with a sweet tooth there are Manner wafers in their signature pink packs, and for lovers of the unusual, Styrian pumpkin seed oil: dark green, with a nutty flavour. Oil and wine should go in checked baggage, not hand luggage. As for Sturm, the season's young, partly fermented wine, do not bring it home: it keeps fermenting, and a tightly closed bottle can burst. Drink it on the spot, at a heuriger.

Go to the markets in the morning: there is more choice and fewer queues. Naschmarkt is the best known, and if you want local life, visit the Karmelitermarkt farmers' market. Check the price per 100 grams or per kilogram so you don't compare different units, and taste before you buy.

What you can bring into Moldova duty-free if you arrive by air, according to the Customs Service:

Category	Allowance per person
Goods for personal use	up to €430
Spirits (over 22%)	1 litre
Alcohol up to 22%	2 litres
Wine	2 litres
Beer	5 litres
Cigarettes	200 pieces

Types of alcohol can be combined if the total does not exceed 100% of the permitted allowances. Cash of €10,000 or more must be declared via the red channel.

A special treat for residents of Moldova: VAT in Vienna can be refunded if your main place of residence is outside the EU. The conditions are: a receipt of at least €75.01 from a single shop, a Tax Free form completed in the shop on presentation of your passport, and export of the goods within three months. At Vienna Airport the digital customs stamp is applied at the DEV kiosks before you drop off your baggage, and goods in hand luggage are confirmed at the DEV counter near the boarding gate. The refund operator charges a commission, so what you receive is less than 20%.

Great Trips to Vienna by Date: When to Fly for an Event

When	What is happening	What to consider
September and October	Sturm season in the heurigers of Grinzing and Stammersdorf	Sold by law from 1 August to 31 December, but mostly until 11 November. Vienna has about 660 hectares of vineyards right within the city limits
From 6 November 2026	Christmas markets. Schönbrunn and the village by Stephansplatz open on 6 November, Rathausplatz from 13 November to 26 December	Schönbrunn and the Wintermarkt at Riesenradplatz run until 6 January 2027, and for Schönbrunn it is better to book an entry time in advance. The market at Belvedere is not held in 2026
21 and 22 January 2027	Vienna Philharmonic Ball (21 January) and the Coffeehouse Owners' Ball at the Hofburg (22 January)	The ball season runs from November to February, most of the big dates fall in January and February
4 February 2027	Vienna Opera Ball	Tickets are sold by the Staatsoper, book accommodation for these days in advance
From 25 March 2027	Start of SkyUp direct flights on Thursdays and Sundays	Depart on Thursday morning, return on Sunday afternoon: a full four days
25-27 June 2027	Donauinselfest, a free festival on the Danube Island	Travel by U1 or U6 metro, book nearby accommodation in advance

There is also a "two capitals in one trip" option. REX trains run from Vienna to Bratislava twice an hour, and the journey takes about an hour. The Bratislava-Ticket return costs about €18-19 and on the first day replaces a Bratislava city transport pass. By the way, Zbor.md also has separate pages Chișinău - Bratislava, Chișinău - Budapest and Chișinău - Prague, if you want to combine cities.

What to Know About Vienna on Your First Visit

There are no turnstiles in the metro, but inspectors do appear, and the on-the-spot fine since January 2026 is €135. A ticket in the WienMobil app is about 5% cheaper than a paper one. On Sundays most shops are closed: shops in stations and at the airport are open, as are pastry shops. Cafés, restaurants and many museums are open on Sundays, so you won't go hungry.

In a café, sit at a table and wait for the waiter: the counter is not used here. Ask for "eine Melange", water is brought automatically, and you can sit for an hour. The emergency number 112 works in roaming too, free of charge.

Choose your dates in the search form at the top of the page, and if you need help with a connection or baggage, call the Zbor.md 24-hour line +373 22 844 111 or write on Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp. We operate as an IATA agency and will issue your ticket so that all fare conditions are clear in advance.

Information verified on 21 September 2026. Schedules, fares and entry rules change, so check the official websites before you travel.