Vienna International Airport is Austrian Airlines' home hub and the main gateway for a pet travelling into the country by air, though Salzburg and Innsbruck airports are genuinely useful alternatives if your trip is built around the western alpine regions rather than the capital. Austrian Airlines' own published pet policy allows up to two healthy pets per approved carrier in the cabin, with a combined weight for the animal and the carrier of no more than 8kg, in a soft-sided carrier (no solid frame, wheels or telescopic handle) measuring at most 55 x 40 x 23cm.

A larger dog travels in the cargo hold instead, in an IATA-compliant carrier; from 4 May 2026, the airline is tightening ventilation-hole rules on hold carriers to 25 x 25mm for dogs and 19 x 19mm for cats. Fees are charged per route tier, one way, plus a variable ticket service fee — roughly €65 for a domestic Austrian cabin booking rising to €125 for the longest intercontinental routes, with hold fees running from around €80 domestically up to €380 for a large carrier on a long-haul route.

Two restrictions are easy to miss. Brachycephalic (snub-nosed) breeds including pugs, most bulldogs, boxers, Boston terriers, Shih Tzus, Shar Peis, Pekingese and Lhasa Apsos are barred from the cargo hold entirely for health reasons, and several breeds classed as 'fighting dogs' — including Rottweilers, American Bulldogs, Dogo Argentino, Caucasian Ovcharka and Karabash — may only travel in the hold using special IATA-compliant containers. On flights to the United Kingdom or South Africa, animals must travel as freight regardless of size, with no cabin or ordinary hold option at all.