Snow chaos - Munich Airport temporarily suspends operations on Tuesday
Munich Airport is temporarily suspending operations again on Tuesday due to the winter weather. There will be no take-offs and landings from the start of operations at 6.00 a.m. until 12.00 noon, an airport spokesperson announced on Monday evening. The reason for this was the forecast freezing rain in the night from Monday to Tuesday, which is expected to make safe flight operations impossible in the morning and in the morning. At least 150 take-offs and 160 landings will be affected on Tuesday. According to the airport, more than 770 departures and arrivals are planned for the day.
According to the information provided, the airport intends to use the first half of the day to de-ice the operating areas following the forecast freezing rain. The plan is to restart air traffic from midday, it said. However, the flight schedule will probably still be severely restricted in the afternoon. Passengers should plan for this and check with their airline.
Overnight stays on camp beds
Due to the restrictions on air traffic caused by the severe onset of winter in large parts of Bavaria, around 1500 passengers were still stranded at the airport on Monday evening, the spokesperson said. Among other things, they were sleeping on camp beds in the airport and being provided with food and drink. Passengers complained on the X platform on Monday that promised connecting flights had been canceled several times.
Munich is Germany's second largest airport and an important hub for international air traffic. It was mainly international passengers who were stranded, some of whom did not have a visa to enter the country, so they spent the night at the airport.
Chaos on the railroads too
The heavy snowfall on the first weekend of Advent is also having an impact on roads and railways. Deutsche Bahn (DB) expects further disruptions in Bavaria and nationwide, especially in Baden-Württemberg and towards Switzerland, until the middle of the week. Travelers have been asked to postpone non-essential journeys until 6 December (Wednesday). Munich Central Station, for example, was only in operation to a very limited extent on Monday.
The railroad union EVG and the passenger association Pro Bahn used the chaos on the railroads as an opportunity to sound the alarm. They demanded consequences for the railroad's suitability for winter. EVG Chairman Martin Burkert told the "Augsburger Allgemeine" (Monday) that the German rail infrastructure was "largely dilapidated". There needs to be major investment, such as in Austria.
The national chairman of the passenger association Pro Bahn, Detlev Neuß, told the newspaper that rail transport was "only sewn on edge after decades of austerity policies". One of the many problems is that, until recently, the railroads have been dismantling more and more tracks as stabling facilities and now park entire trains directly in stations when they can no longer reach their destination. "The congested stations mean that rail traffic is blocked even more quickly and comes to a standstill on a large scale."
Closed schools
The combination of huge amounts of snow and freezing sub-zero temperatures is a particular challenge, according to several sources. Ice froze in the tracks of the streetcar in Munich and caused vehicles used to clear the tracks to derail.
In the districts of Starnberg and Mühldorf am Inn, as well as in Augsburg, many schools remained closed on Monday. This was reportedly due to the masses of snow on the roofs of the buildings. Classes are due to resume almost everywhere on Tuesday.
In the most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, snowfall since Sunday evening has provided one to four centimetres of white splendour in the lowlands, according to the German Weather Service in Essen. Highway and road maintenance services were in constant operation, and hundreds of employees were also working in Cologne to clear roads and footpaths. There was no shortage of accidents on slippery and snow-covered roads in the region.
Meteorologists warn of black ice
And the situation remains tense in many regions of Germany: Even if it gets a little milder, the German Weather Service is warning of possible black ice in many places in the coming days. Especially in the western mountains and the further east you go, there is an increased risk of black ice, said DWD meteorologist Marco Manitta in Offenbach on Monday. The regions between the Main and Danube rivers were particularly at risk from Monday evening to Tuesday morning. And: "It cannot be ruled out that the black ice situation could also turn out to be severe in isolated cases." Only along the Rhine and in the far west will temperatures remain above zero degrees overnight. Severe frost could occur again in south-eastern Bavaria.
Read also:
- The chaos in Munich's airport is not limited to air traffic, as the heavy snowfall in Southern Germany, particularly in Bavaria, is also causing issues on the railroads.
- If you're planning to travel to Munich or pass through Southern Germany, consider using a car as an alternative, as the disruptions on the railways are expected to continue until midweek.
- The railroad union EVG and the passenger association Pro Bahn have pointed out the poor condition of Germany's rail infrastructure, particularly in Bavaria, revealing that many tracks have been dismantled and replaced with station parking spaces, causing congestion and delays during adverse weather conditions.
- Exacerbating the issue, the snow and freezing temperatures have also resulted in the closure of schools in some areas, including Starnberg, Mühldorf am Inn, and Augsburg, with classes resuming the next day.
Source: www.stern.de
