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I have a South African passport with a "stati Schengen" visa issued by Italy. The visa is type "C" and is valid for MULT entries.

Can I visit Vienna, flying from Italy, with above visa? Will it be valid?

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Yes. "Stati Schengen" is Italian for "Schengen States," which means that your visa is valid for the entire Schengen area. Austria is a member of the Schengen area, so your visa is valid there.

MULT means that the visa is valid for multiple entries, but this doesn't matter to your question unless you plan to fly through a country that isn't in the Schengen area.

In fact, if you travel entirely within the Schengen area (for example, if you fly direct from Italy to Austria, or if you transit only through other Schengen states), you should not even see any immigration control or other passport checks, unless you encounter "temporary" controls that have been introduced in response to the refugee crisis or some other event, or if you encounter the "non-systematic" controls that are allowed under the Schengen agreement.

This assumes that the visa's expiration date has not passed, of course, and that you have not exceeded the 90 days of presence you are allowed in the 180-day period ending on the date of travel.

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    To put it more simply: flying Vienna-Rome is effectively a domestic trip, practically no different from flying Cape Town-Durban. And those temporary border checks, which have been "re-abolished", were only at the land borders
    – Crazydre
    Oct 14, 2016 at 12:48
  • @Crazydre But the question is about a "stati Schengen" visa, which, if it said anything else, would most likely say "Italia." With such a visa, it would not be permitted to travel to Vienna, regardless of the border checks that may or may not be in place. (Also, without a systematic check in place, it's still possible for arriving internal Schengen flights to be met by border control officers; this has happened to me on several occasions, and, when it does, they ask to see everyone's passport. Those from visa-required countries get closer scrutiny, presumably to check their visas.)
    – phoog
    Oct 14, 2016 at 13:42
  • @Crazydre Even if there are no regular immigration control on flights within the Schengen area, it is not particularly appropriate to compare them with domestic flights. Independent of the refugee situation in Europe, you may be up for a random customs check, during which a check of your id or travel documents is also likely.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Oct 14, 2016 at 15:36
  • @phoog Does that mean the flight lands at a non-Schengen gate on purpose, or that you're met by standing border guards in the Schengen section? Like I said I've been checked at internal land borders (here in Switzerland, despite being in Schengen, internal checks seem to be fairly common at major crossings, even before the crisis) Never at airports though, even during the crisis
    – Crazydre
    Oct 14, 2016 at 15:38
  • @Tor-EinarJarnbjo such checks can be made on (true) domestic flights, too, depending on the law of the country in question, though they would surely be far less likely.
    – phoog
    Oct 14, 2016 at 15:42

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