German President to visit Austria this week New German President Christian Wulff will come to Vienna this Wednesday, the office of Austrian President Heinz Fischer has announced.
British teacher dies on first day of school ski trip A British teacher has died on the first day of a week-long school ski trip after falling off a four meter high stone wall after a trip to a pub and landing on his head.
Kampusch: FBI Dossier to Reveal Police Cover Up A secret FBI report into police cover-ups over the kidnapping of cellar prison victim Natascha Kampusch is due to be made public this month (April).
Cellar Girl: Kampusch Dad Launches Book Naming Second Kidnapper The father of girl in the cellar Natascha Kampusch - locked in an underground dungeon and raped for for eight-and-a-half years - has written a book accusing her kidnapper’s best friend of being his accomplice.
Turks Declare Star Wars on Lego Turks living in Austria are calling for a boycott of Lego products after accusing it of encouraging racial hatred and prejudice.
Lake Lüner to get a facelift One of Austria's most beautiful lakes is set to lose most of its water – at least temporarily so that repair and renovation work can take place on the wall of a dam.
Child allowance extension rarely taken up admits minister Experts have criticised the offer of extending the Kinderbetreuungsgeld - the payment made to new parents – for two months in cases of hardship because the process is too complicated.
CCTV images of suspected serial rapist Austrian police have issued these CCTV images of a man they suspect might be responsible for a series of rapes on the Vienna U6 underground line.
Salzburg deputy resigns after 3bn rogue trader loss Salzburg's deputy governor and the man in charge of the province's finances has announced he plans to resign next month after an alleged rogue trader gambled away billions on risky financial market ventures.
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The struggle of Klagenfurt Airport
The new director of Klagenfurt Airport, Carinthia (Southern Austria), has taken on a difficult task. Max Schintlmeister wanted to provide concrete plans for the development of the airport by the end of March but these have not been finalised yet.
Viennese Fiaker: defects despite checks
The number of serious defects in Fiaker (horse-drawn carriages) have decreased but the number of light defects have increased. The city of Vienna is satisfied with the regulation of the stables and animal protection.
Tyrolean administration will be shut down in Innsbruck
Austrian Airlines (AUA) will close the administration of its subsidiary Tyrolean in Innsbruck (Western Austria). Technical maintenance and the Austrian Airlines call centre will remain in Innsbruck. 100 to 400 employees are concerned.
Record year for brewery Mohrenbräu
The brewery Mohrenbräu from Dornbirn, Vorarlberg (Western Austria), was able to increase its sales by 2.5 percent, which is another record in the company’s history. After the record year of 2011, the sales of beverages increased to an amount of 175,950 hectolitres.
Petrol price will be set before holidays
The price corridor of petrol, which will prevent price usury, will come into force at Easter once again. The prices of petrol are frozen on holiday weekends when people tend to travel a lot.
Consumers benefited from the regulation last year. It will expire at the end of 2013. Operators of service stations are not allowed to change the petrol prices at the following dates:
Easter: from Thursday, 28 March (11.00 a.m.) until Monday, 1 April (24.00 p.m.)
Ascension Day: From Wednesday, 8 May (11.00 a.m.) until Sunday 12 May (24.00 p.m.)
Whitsun: From Thursday, 16 May (11.00 a.m.) until Monday, 20 May (24.00 p.m.)
Corpus Christi: From Wednesday, 29 May (11.00 a.m.) until Sunday, 2 June (24.00 p.m.)
Assumption Day: Wednesday, 14 August (11.00 a.m.) until Sunday, 18 August (24.00 p.m.)
Price changes are also not valid on the first two weekends of the summer holidays: from Thursday, 27 June (11.00 a.m.) until Sunday, 30 June (24.00 p.m.) and from Thursday, 4 July (11.00 a.m.) until Sunday, 7 July (24.00 p.m.).
The reason for the introduction of setting prices was the fact that services stations excessively increased petrol prices before holidays, stated the driver’s club ÖAMTC.
This is why a regulation froze the petrol prices for the first time on three weekends in 2012. Thus, the market transparency was increased and it was easier to compare prices.
The ARBÖ, another driver’s club, said that a counter argument, which states that service stations cannot reduce prices either, cannot be justified. "If prices are set too high, oil companies risk a loss in business", ARBÖ-General Secretary Lydia Ninz explained.
Taxi chaos at Vienna airport
Tourists who aren’t aware of the complex taxi politics at Vienna’s International Airport are potentially being charged too much for runs between the airport in Schwechat (Lower-Austria) and Vienna itself.
Drop in sales for pharmacies in Salzburg
Chemists from Salzburg are complaining about a drop in sales. As patents for expensive drugs have been expiring, health insurance companies are replacing them by cheaper generics in order to reduce their costs. However, this affects chemists.
Live like a local - a new trend in Vienna
More tourists choose to live in private apartments during their stay in Vienna. Hotels do not fear competition but have concerns about the living standards. Vienna Tourism considers the trend to be positive.
Tourism record in February
Vienna Tourism has set a new record in February and excelled the record from last year. There are more tourists from Russia, Great Britain, the USA and Japan.
Viennese cafes suffer from special offers
Viennese cafes are facing a drop in business in the morning as many people do without breakfast. Instead, they buy a cheap coffee-to-go on their way to work.
Porsche Holding makes record revenue
The Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) has reached new record revenue. It increased from 2011 to 2012 by 34.5 percent to 15.2 billion Euros. The cause for the growth turned out to be sales and marketing activities.
Asfinag modernises emergency telephones
Emergency telephones on Austrian motorways or in tunnels will be modified. Members of the Asfinag (the motorway financing stock corporation) will thus be able to react even faster. 400 emergency telephones have been modified so far.
Police are looking for young talents
The Vienna police are once again looking for young talents. 500 recruits are needed in order to meet the personnel requirements. There will be 1,000 more police officers until 2015.
ÖAMTC: no need for more car parks
The operators of car parks in Vienna are pleased about the expansion of parking sticker zones. The driver’s club ÖAMTC confirms a good fill rate but does not spot the need of additional car parks.
Microphones could save lives in road tunnels
Microphones could prove more effective than cameras in monitoring traffic accidents in tunnels according to a new survey by an Austrian research institute.
14.000 Euro anonymous donation left for Red Cross
An anonymous donor in Bruck an der Leitha, Lower Austria, left an envelope containing a the password to a savings account worth 14,000 Euros in a Red-Cross post box.
Red-Bull threat: cans poisoned with poo bacteria
Red Bull has received threats from oppressors who say they will contaminate the popular energy drink with faecal bacteria – bacteria found in human excrements.
Record year for congress tourism
3,376 congresses and conferences were held in Vienna in 2012, which is an increase by 7 percent compared to 2011. The forecast for this year is promising.
Every ski accident costs 70,000 Euros
50,000 skiers or snowboarders were injured in Austria last year and caused high economical costs. On average, every ski accident costs 70,000 Euros.
Pago will close down headquarters
The fruit producing company Pago will shut down its headquarters in Klagenfurt at the end of 2013 and move to Upper Austria. Production will be outsourced to Spain and France. 110 employees will lose their jobs.
Zwettl Brewery increases turnover to 22 million Euros
The private Zwettl brewery in Lower Austria has been able to increase its turnover by 1.4 percent to 22.1 million Euros. The Vienna target market grew quantitatively by 10.4 percent.
Hotel guests in Austria decreasing
Austria’s hotel industry suffered a reduction of 0.5 percent compared to January 2012. The number of hotel guests from Italy and Austria has decreased.
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