Bratislava, Slovakia is less than an hour by car and only about an hour by train from Vienna. With new taxes and a minimum airline ticket prices coming to Austria, will Bratislava soon be an even greater Mecca for cheap airfare?
M. R. Štefánik Airport (BTS), more commonly known as just Bratislava Airport, is located just over the Slovakian-Austrian border. While many Slovaks travel to Vienna (just 55 kilometers away) for international travel, many Austrians travel to Bratislava for cheap airfare, a focus city for Ryanair.
While local airlines have collapsed and Czech Airlines has deteriorated, Ryanair moved into BTS in 2004 and steadily grown over the years. A new terminal, opened in 2012, serves both arrivals and departures. Two additional terminals, Terminals B and C, are current unused.
Ryanair serves many destinations, including:
- Alghero
- Athens
- Birmingham
- Bologna
- Brussels-Charleroi
- Burgas (seasonal)
- Corfu (seasonal)
- Dublin
- Edinburgh
- Eilat (seasonal)
- Eindhoven
- Kiev–Boryspil
- Leeds-Bradford (seasonal)
- London–Stansted
- Malta
- Málaga (seasonal)
- Manchester
- Milan-Bergamo
- Niš
- Palma de Mallorca (seasonal)
- Paphos
- Paris-Beauvais
- Rome–Ciampino
- Thessaloniki
The airport is also served by flydubai, Pobeda, Smartwings, and Wizzair.
A Great Opportunity For Bratislava Growth
BTS is more than just a small airport serving a few leisure destinations. With service to Brussels, Dublin, London, Paris, Rome, and Milan (though not the preferred airports), BTS stands as an alternate to Vienna (VIE). Vienna will still be the preferred international gateway with its service to Asia and North America both nonstop and via the Lufthansa Group network. But if Ryanair continues to build up Bratislava, they should just start calling it Vienna East (I mean, if they are going to call Beauvais Paris and Charleroi Brussels, why not…?).
> Read More: Austria Seeks To Regulate Away Budget Carriers To Protect Austrian Airlines
Bratislava Is A Unique City
I suspect much has changed since my visit to Bratislava in 2011, but I found the city very interesting. It’s quite a juxtaposition to Vienna or Budapest, both of which offer frequent rail service to Bratislava.
I took the train from Budapest and spent a half day exploring the city. Bratislava has a more Soviet feel than Budapest (and of course Vienna). As you walk though the central railway station you’ll notice a historical Soviet-inspired mural that promotes racial harmony, the overthrow of empires, and Sputnik.
A huge Soviet war memorial called Slavín sits on top of a hill overlooking the city. Bratislava Castle and charming historical city center are also worth checking out. Here are some pictures from my visit:
The city is not anything like its portrayal in EuroTrip…
CONCLUSION
If minimum ticket pricing goes into effect in Austria as planned, look for Ryanair to ramp up service in Bratislava. It would not surprise me to see a full hub develop in BTS under the right circumstances.
To my European readers, would you be willing to fly into and out of Bratislava if you were visiting Vienna if it meant substantial savings on your ticket price?
Bratislava is really pleasant. Many of my colleagues and friends in Vienna have been using BTS for Wizz flights. Insanely cheap compared to flying Austrian out of VIE. But getting to the airport involves a train/bus combo from what they tell me. The city itself is easy and cheap to visit from Vienna. Nice to go for a night as the evenings are very quiet in the old city once the day trippers return to Vienna.
I bit further though – but even nicer is Cesky Krumlov in CZ. Around 2.5 hours by car and an amazing town that is not well known for U.S. travelers. Mostly Euro visitors. Lovely small hotels and cafes and a beautiful setting. And Beer!!
Sounds lovely!
There are direct buses from Vienna or Vienna airport to Bratislava airport. Though these are bit less frequent then those to Bratislava city center.
I love visiting Čadca in Slovakia which is across the border from Zwardoń in southern Poland.
Some friends and I were in Bratislava last year for a guys trip. We found the city to be scenic, walkable, fun and well priced. On a trip that saw Zagreb, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, Bratislava was the unanimous favorite. I’d be happy to fly there directly.
“While local airlines have collapsed and Czech Airlines has deteriorated”
Czech deteriorated in BTS ages ago, as BTS was only a secondary hub for Czech airlines for a few months in the early 2010s. Granted, Slovakia hasn’t had a national airline in almost just as long…
While I can’t say Bratislava is a nicer city than Vienna, it is still rather charming and worth a visit.
VIE has to be one of the easiest airport experiences anywhere…but I would use BTS to/from Vienna, not necessarily motivated by saving money. I like Bratislava .
On the other hand I would never contemplate Beauvais or Ciampino, even though both CDG and FCO can be nightmarish. Perhaps it’s my loss…
Most of the traffic to Mecca is traveling for Hajj and Umrah and comes from nations where they may struggle to get Schengen visas to visit Slovakia.
I can’t imagine that Bratislava will be considered a suitable substitute for these pilgrims. Jeddah and Medina will continue to be the transportation centers for them, once Saudi Arabia reopens their borders.