Plane spotting in Austria: legal situation, airport rules and special features

You are standing on the spotter hill near Klein-Neusiedl, an Austrian jet touches down on runway 34, and a police car stops behind you. No cause for concern: plane spotting is allowed in Austria. The rules of the game differ markedly from Germany in a few points, though. Trespass works differently, the Austrian Armed Forces (Bundesheer) have their own Restricted Areas Act, and image rights are in the Copyright Act. This guide sorts out what applies at the fence in Schwechat, Hörsching or Thalerhof.

The short answer

Anyone who watches aircraft from a public path, an official spotter area or an observation deck in Austria and photographs them for private purposes acts lawfully. Things get tricky in five places:

• Airport grounds: Terminal, parking areas and terraces belong to the operator. Its terms of use and house rules apply.
• Other people’s land: Fields, company parking lots and closed farm tracks are not public areas. Anyone who uses them anyway interferes with other people’s possession.
• Fence and security area: The airside begins behind the fence. Without authorization you have no business there.
• Military: An explicit photography ban applies to restricted areas of the Austrian Armed Forces.
• Drones, lasers, photos of people: separate sets of rules that have little to do with the aircraft photo itself.

Airport grounds: terms of use and house rules

Austria’s commercial airports are not public places but the operating grounds of private or partly private companies. What is allowed there is governed by the respective airport’s terms of use for civil airfields (Zivilflugplatz-Benützungsbedingungen) as well as house rules for the terminal, parking garages and visitor areas. Vienna Airport, for example, publishes its terms of use for Vienna-Schwechat on its own website. On that basis, staff can ask you to refrain from something or to leave the area.

In practice, this means for you as a spotter:

• Private photos in the public terminal area are usually tolerated. You don’t photograph the security checkpoint itself – why is explained in the article Photography at the security checkpoint.
• Commercial photo and film shoots on the grounds generally require permission from the operator. That also applies if you photograph on behalf of a client.
• Observation decks have their own site rules, for example on opening hours, tripods or weather. The Salzburg observation deck stays closed in snow and black ice, for instance.

You will find the general principles on the operator’s house rules – also with a view to Germany – in the post The airport operator’s house rules.

Interference with possession instead of trespass

This is the biggest difference from Germany. German criminal law punishes unauthorized entry into enclosed property as trespass (Hausfriedensbruch). In Austria it is different: § 109 of the Criminal Code (StGB) covers only someone who forces entry into another person’s dwelling with force or the threat of force. Simply stepping onto a fenced-in meadow next to the runway does not fall under it.

That is not a free pass, though:

• Interference with possession (Besitzstörung, § 339 of the Civil Code, ABGB): Nobody may interfere with another person’s possession on their own authority. The disturbed party can demand an injunction and compensation for damages in court. Possession-interference proceedings are a common and often expensive matter for those affected in Austria – many know them from parking on private land.
• Property damage (§ 125 StGB): Anyone who bends the fence while climbing, breaks a lock or damages a barrier risks criminal proceedings. The law provides for up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine.
• Security area: The airside with runways, taxiways and apron begins behind the fence. Anyone who turns up there without authorization will, if in doubt, trigger a police operation and can interrupt flight operations – with all the legal and financial consequences. What distinguishes landside, airside and security area is in the article Landside, airside, security area.

Traffic law comes on top of that. Around Vienna Airport, farm tracks are closed to motor vehicles, and spotters report checks. Park in regular areas and walk or cycle the rest.

Whether a ladder and step at the fence are okay depends heavily on the location. The principles are summarized in Ladders, steps and tripods at the airport fence.

Official spotter offerings: the safe way

Austria’s airports are comparatively open toward spotters. Several operators have created their own offerings where photography is expressly welcome:

Airport	Official offering	What to keep in mind
Vienna-Schwechat	Spotter hill east of runway 16/34, photo holes in the fence	Photo holes can be closed during state visits or for security reasons; the observation deck is closed because of the southern expansion
Linz-Hörsching	Roof terrace at the terminal, spotter holes in the fence	Runway is shared with Vogler Air Base, the military southern part has its own rules
Graz	Observation deck, twelve photo holes in the fence	The former military part has no longer been used by the Austrian Armed Forces since 2013
Salzburg	Observation deck at Terminal 1	Closed in snow and black ice
Innsbruck	Observation deck	The airport’s house rules apply

Photo holes are an Austrian specialty you should use: you shoot at eye level with no wire in the frame and at the same time stand clearly on the right side. What else is worthwhile in Schwechat is in the spotting guide for Vienna. Klagenfurt Airport, too, can be watched from outside – the same principle applies there: public paths yes, other people’s land and fence no.

Military: the Restricted Areas Act 2002

For the Austrian Armed Forces there is a separate law that spotters should know. Under the Restricted Areas Act 2002 (Sperrgebietsgesetz), the Minister of Defense can declare areas serving the armed forces to be restricted areas by ordinance – such as training grounds or areas with military installations. Such restricted areas must be clearly marked on site.

What matters for you is § 4: photographing, filming and any drawn depiction of a restricted area is prohibited. Exceptions exist only with permission from the competent military unit. Anyone who presses the shutter anyway or enters the area without authorization commits an administrative offense:

• Range of penalties: a fine of up to €2,200 or imprisonment of up to six weeks, and where aggravating circumstances predominate, both.
• Attempt: Even the attempt is punishable.
• Forfeiture: Photos and films taken without authorization are forfeited, and in aggravating circumstances so is the equipment used – so possibly your camera.

What does that mean at the airport? At Linz-Hörsching, the civilian airport and Vogler Air Base share runway 08/26. The Austrian Armed Forces’ C-130 Hercules take off from the same strip as the freighters. Photographing a Hercules taking off from the terrace or a public spotter hole is not the same as deliberately photographing the barracks to the south. Watch for signs and don’t photograph into marked areas. General rules for air bases are summarized in Photographing military airfields. At Zeltweg, Hinterstoisser Air Base is home to the Eurofighter; you can see it quite legally and with an official invitation at the airshow AIRPOWER in Zeltweg, which the airshow overview for Europe also presents.

People in the picture: image protection under § 78 of the Copyright Act

Austria has no Art Copyright Act (Kunsturhebergesetz) like Germany. Protection of one’s own image is in § 78 of the Copyright Act (UrhG): images of people may not be published or distributed if this would violate the legitimate interests of the person depicted. So it comes down to a balancing of interests, not a blanket consent requirement.

For spotting practice, this means:

• Aircraft as the subject: Small, unrecognizable figures at windows or on the apron are unproblematic.
• Recognizable people at the center: A portrait of a pilot in the cockpit window or ground staff in an unflattering situation is something you should not publish without asking.
• Data protection: Anyone who systematically publishes many pictures with recognizable people is additionally in GDPR territory.

Who owns the photos themselves and what to keep in mind when passing them on is explained in the post on copyright in aircraft photos.

Drones, lasers, radio and data

Drones: In Austria you have to register once as a drone operator and attach the registration number to every drone. For drones over 249 grams, meaning from 250 grams, an online course including an exam is mandatory; in addition, Austro Control requires liability insurance. Where you may fly is shown by Austro Control’s geographical zones in the Dronespace application – significant restrictions apply there around airports. The details are in the article Flying a drone in Austria. For spotters, the simple rule of thumb applies: at the airport, the drone stays in the backpack.

Laser pointers: Light aimed at the cockpit is no joke but a danger to the crew – and can have serious criminal consequences. More on this in the post Laser pointers and aircraft.

Air band radio and ADS-B: Listening to radio and receiving ADS-B data are separate legal questions that are regulated differently from country to country. You will find the classification for Austria in Listening to air band radio: the legal situation and Receiving ADS-B data. Who is responsible for air traffic control in Austria is explained in Austro Control and Skyguide.

Police check at the fence

Anyone standing at the security fence with a long lens will be approached sooner or later. In Austria that is the police or the airport’s security service. Important to know:

• No general ID requirement: You don’t have to carry ID with you at all times.
• Duty to cooperate in an identity check: § 35 of the Security Police Act allows the police, under certain conditions, to establish your name, date of birth and home address. If such a case applies, you must cooperate. Without ID it takes longer.
• Security staff are not the police: Private security staff enforce the operator’s house rules but have no police powers. Whether you have to delete photos if they ask is answered in the article Deleting photos at the request of security staff. What applies if your camera or memory card is to be held is under Camera or memory card confiscated.

How checks typically work is covered in detail under Police check while spotting.

Austria, Germany, Switzerland: the most important differences

Topic	Austria	Germany
Unauthorized entry	Usually not trespass; interference with possession under § 339 ABGB	Trespass under § 123 StGB possible
Military facilities	Photography ban for restricted areas under § 4 Restricted Areas Act 2002	Endangering security by depicting under § 109g StGB
People in photos	Image protection under § 78 UrhG (balancing of interests)	Art Copyright Act, consent in principle
ID	No general ID requirement, cooperation in identity checks	Owning ID yes, carrying it no

The DACH overview is provided by Is plane spotting allowed?, and the Swiss particularities are explained in Plane spotting in Switzerland. If you travel on from Austria, Spotting abroad helps.

Checklist before your spotting day in Austria

A bonus for spotters in Austria: if you are getting into the system of the home registrations, the article on Austrian OE- registrations offers the matching background for your own collection.

Conclusion

Plane spotting in Austria is a legal hobby that many airports even actively support. Spotter hills, photo holes and terraces make it easy to stay on the safe side. Legally, the country works differently from Germany in a few points: unauthorized entry is usually not trespass but can quickly get expensive via interference with possession. Military restricted areas are protected by a separate law with a photography ban, and the Copyright Act measures photos of people against the legitimate interests of those depicted. Anyone who keeps this in mind stands relaxed at the fence in Schwechat, Hörsching or Salzburg.