Oops! Did You Mean To Fly To Austria?

It's a well-known joke that people often accidentally fly to Austria when they meant to go to Australia, but is there any truth to it? Viral posts have claimed that Salzburg Airport in Austria has a help desk specifically for people who intended to fly to Australia. However, this has been proven to be false. The claim originated from an advertisement for a technology company that ran on a baggage carousel at the airport, joking about offering such a service. While it is true that people sometimes confuse Austria with Australia, representatives from Salzburg Airport and Vienna Airport have confirmed that they have never heard of a passenger mistakenly landing in Austria when they were supposed to be flying to Australia.

Viral posts claim people often fly to Austria instead of Australia

Viral posts on TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram have sparked conversations about people mistakenly flying to Austria instead of Australia. The posts, which have garnered millions of views and likes, feature a photo of a sign at Salzburg Airport in Austria that reads: "Sorry, this is Austria not Australia! Need help? Please press the button." The sign is accompanied by an image of an "SOS" button.

The posts claim that Salzburg Airport has a dedicated help desk for people who accidentally flew to Austria when they intended to go to Australia. According to one of the posts, more than 100 passengers a year make this mistake, hence the need for a special counter.

However, these claims are false. Salzburg Airport has confirmed that it does not have a help desk for passengers who mistook Austria for Australia. A spokesperson for the airport stated that they have never heard of anyone travelling to Salzburg by mistake when they actually wanted to go to Australia. The sign in the photo that sparked the viral posts is, in fact, an advertisement for Commend, an Austrian communication and security technology company. The advertisement was designed to be witty and engage passengers with the company's brand and Intercom products.

While it is true that people sometimes confuse Austria with Australia due to their similar-sounding names, it is unlikely that someone would book a flight to the wrong country without realising their mistake until they landed. This is because flights to Austria and Australia usually have different durations and connections, and passengers would need different visas depending on their destination. Additionally, tickets and check-in counters specify the city of destination, not just the country.

Despite this, there have been several well-documented instances of people accidentally flying to the wrong country. For example, in 2002 and 2010, some travellers flew to Sydney in Nova Scotia instead of Sydney, Australia. In 2021, a group of French soccer fans flew to Bucharest, Romania, instead of Budapest, Hungary, to watch their team play.

People question the plausibility of the mix-up

People have questioned the plausibility of the mix-up between Austria and Australia, citing various reasons why this mistake is unlikely to occur. One of the main arguments is that travellers fly to specific cities, not just countries, so they would be booking a flight to Melbourne or Sydney, not just Australia. This would make it clear to the traveller that they are flying to the correct continent. Additionally, flights to Australia from North America or Europe are typically much longer than those to Austria, so passengers would likely notice the difference in flight time.

Another point made by sceptics is that different visas are required for Austria and Australia, and most travellers would have to apply for a visa before their trip. This process would likely make travellers more aware of their intended destination. Furthermore, there are far fewer non-stop flights available to Austria, so travellers flying from North America, for example, would likely have to take a connecting flight, making it less likely that they would mistakenly end up in the wrong country.

While some people believe that the mix-up is possible due to the similar-sounding names of the two countries, others argue that the differences between the two are significant and easily distinguishable. Austria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, while Australia is a large island continent surrounded by the Indian Ocean on the other side of the world.

Despite these arguments, there have been several well-documented instances of travellers ending up in the wrong destination. For example, in 2002 and 2010, some travellers flew to Sydney, Nova Scotia, instead of Sydney, Australia. Additionally, CNN, the rock band Kiss, and international postal systems have all mistakenly used Australian imagery when referring to Austria, or vice versa. While it may be uncommon for travellers to confuse the two countries when booking their flights, it is not unheard of for people to mix up Austria and Australia due to their similar names.

The misconception stems from an ad for a tech company

The misconception that people accidentally fly to Austria instead of Australia stems from an advertisement for a technology company. The ad, which was placed on a baggage carousel in Salzburg Airport, was for Commend, an Austrian communication and security technology company that sells intercom systems. The billboard, which was first posted to the meme website 9GAG in 2021, read: "Sorry, this is Austria not Australia! Need help? Please press the button." The image of an "SOS" button stood out against the advertisement's solid blue background.

The ad was designed to initiate a direct dialogue between the passengers who saw the board and the Commend brand and its intercom products. Wolfgang Peer, a spokesperson for Commend International, explained that the ad was meant to contain a witty message with a certain wink. He added that Austrians often answer in English to the question of where they come from with: "'From Austria, but there are no kangaroos in Austria.'"

The ad went viral on social media, with people sharing the image and joking about the idea of a help desk for travellers who accidentally flew to the wrong country. Despite the attention, the airport confirmed that no such help desk exists and that the story was not true.

Austria and Australia are sometimes mixed up

Austria and Australia are two countries with similar-sounding names, and people do sometimes mix them up. However, the idea that people accidentally fly to Austria when they intended to go to Australia is just a myth. This misconception was fuelled by a viral meme that included a photo of a billboard at Salzburg Airport in Austria. The billboard featured a large sign that read: "Sorry, this is Austria not Australia! Need help? Please press the button." The image was, in fact, an advertisement for an intercom company and not an airport help desk for confused travellers, as was claimed in the meme.

Salzburg Airport has confirmed that it does not have a help desk for travellers who mistakenly booked flights to Austria instead of Australia. A spokesperson for the airport stated that they had never heard of anyone travelling to Salzburg by mistake when they actually wanted to go to Australia. Vienna Airport has also confirmed that they have never experienced this issue.

While it is clear that people do not accidentally end up in Austria when they are trying to go to Australia, the two countries are sometimes mixed up. For example, in 2016, CNN was mocked for sharing a banner that stated Australia was "building a fence at the Slovenian border". In another instance, the rock band KISS played in Vienna, Austria's capital, and paid tribute to the audience with a message in the colours of the Australian flag.

The names Austria and Australia do sound similar, but there are some key differences. Austria, in German, is "Österreich", which comes from the Old High German word "Ostarrîchi", meaning "eastern realm". Australia, on the other hand, is derived from the Latin "australis", meaning "southern".

The two countries' names sound similar

The idea that people accidentally fly to Austria when they meant to fly to Australia has been a topic of discussion on social media, with some posts receiving millions of views and tens of thousands of likes. The posts claim that Salzburg Airport in Austria has a help desk specifically for people who intended to fly to Australia. However, this is not true. While people do sometimes confuse Austria with Australia due to the similarity in their names, there is no record of passengers landing in Austria when they meant to fly to Australia.

The misconception about the help desk at Salzburg Airport stems from an advertisement for a technology company that ran on a baggage carousel at the airport. The ad from the company Commend, which sells intercom systems, joked about offering a help desk for travellers who mistakenly flew to Austria instead of Australia. The ad featured a sign that read, "Sorry, this is Austria not Australia! Need help? Please press the button." This sign was included in social media posts that claimed it was a real help desk at the airport.

While there is no dedicated help desk for travellers who mix up the two countries, the similar-sounding names of Austria and Australia have led to confusion in other contexts. For example, in 2016, CNN was mocked for sharing a banner that said Australia was "building a fence at the Slovenian border." Additionally, in 2022, the rock band KISS played in Vienna, Austria's capital, but paid tribute to the audience with a message in the colours of the Australian flag.

The name Austria comes from the Old High German word "Ostarrîchi", meaning "eastern realm", while Australia is derived from the Latin word "australis", meaning "southern". To avoid confusion, it's important for travellers to triple-check their plane tickets and destinations before their journey.

Frequently asked questions