Heavy snowfall led to the paralysis of Munich Airport, forcing about 500 passengers to spend the night on board trapped aircraft. The lack of available shuttle buses and difficult weather conditions prevented the evacuation of travelers to the terminals. The incident sparked a wave of criticism towards airport authorities and Lufthansa, and passengers are announcing a fight for compensation in connection with suspected violation of their rights.
Night in Trapped Planes
Nearly 600 passengers had to spend the night on board aircraft due to a lack of transport to the terminal in Munich.
Prosecutor's Office Intervention
German investigators are examining the circumstances of the incident regarding potential legal negligence on the part of the airport operator.
Effects of Storm Hernando
Problems in Germany coincided in time with the cancellation of transatlantic flights from Ireland to the USA due to weather.
A winter onslaught in southern Germany led to a dramatic situation at Munich Airport. Approximately 600 people, traveling mainly with Lufthansa, were trapped on board aircraft standing on the airport apron. Passengers spent the entire night from Sunday to Monday in the cabins because ground services were unable to provide safe transport to the terminals. According to official statements, the reason was the lack of available shuttle buses and the paralysis of taxiways caused by accumulated snow and ice. Many travelers described the conditions as scandalous, pointing to limited access to information and food. Munich Airport is Germany's second-largest aviation hub, handling over 40 million passengers annually before the pandemic. As a major connecting hub for southern Europe and transatlantic flights, any disruption to its operations reverberates across the global network of connections.The situation also affected Polish citizens who were among the trapped passengers. Following media intervention and numerous complaints, airport authorities and Lufthansa representatives issued official apologies. However, for many people this is not enough – passengers are announcing class-action lawsuits, and legal experts are analyzing whether there were gross negligence regarding the safety and care of travelers. Compensation for the situation could reach record amounts, considering the time passengers were trapped inside the confined space of the aircraft. „Das ist ein absolutes Armutszeugnis für den Flughafen. Wir saßen zehn Stunden in der Maschine und starrten auf das Terminal, zu dem uns niemand bringen wollte.” (This is an absolute disgrace for the airport. We sat for ten hours in the plane staring at the terminal, which no one wanted to take us to.) — One of the passengers Simultaneously, weather problems occurred on the other side of the Atlantic. The winter storm Hernando, which hit the US East Coast as a powerful cyclone, forced the cancellation of numerous transatlantic flights. Weather problems in the USA led to mass delays and cancellations of transatlantic flights, which impacted the global network of connections and further complicated the situation at European hubs. Aviation experts emphasize that such a large scale of disruption, despite earlier predicted snowfall in Munich, points to critical errors in the airport's crisis management.