Airlines took drastic measures because of the corona virus and canceled thousands of flights - including at Munich Airport.
- The corona virus is spreading more and more worldwide.
- Munich Airport has also canceled thousands of flights.
- On Monday (March 16), machines took off to transport vacationers home.
Update, March 16: This morning two empty planes took off from Munich Airport. Her job was to transport vacationers stuck in Tenerife home. Due to corona-related travel restrictions , they had previously been denied travel home, reports the Bavarian Radio .
When the planes return is still unclear, according to the report. Meanwhile, operations at the airport continue to be noticeably restricted.
Munich Airport: "We are hanging in a vacuum" - Air China continues to fly
Update, March 11: A security officer at Munich Airport tested positive for the corona virus. He worked in security control. His employer gives new details. The corona virus is back in focus after the election. You can find out which measures are now being taken in Munich due to Corona in our new news ticker.
21:21: The new Munich airport boss Jost Lammers speaks of a "dent" in view of the canceled flights. The airport spokesman explains: "We expect that the significant drop in demand will also be reflected in the numbers in the coming weeks." And: "It will really hit us in March." decline more than the number of flights .
The first numbers are already available. While in January the number of passengers increased by 2.5 percent compared to the previous year, in February there was a decrease of 2.6 percent . The number of flights decreased by 1.6 percent in February compared to 2019. In the last week of February there was a 3.9 percent decline.
This also worries the employees at the airport. Swissport Losch with just under 900 employees at the Munich location handles short and medium-haul routes for Lufthansa and also has numerous other customers, such as Tui Fly, Al Italia and Air Baltic . “We are hanging in a vacuum,” complains Works Council Chairman Michael Batog from Verdi. The flight schedules changed constantly because the airlines often changed the schedule. The work is difficult to calculate. Already there is an estimated 15 percent drop in orders . "It currently looks like short-time work."
Read also: The corona virus has a firm grip on Europe. The fear of infection is also growing in Germany. Also in swimming pools? The Erding thermal bath reacts calmly.
Munich Airport: Despite the corona virus, Air China continues to fly - that's what the airport says
Update of March 10, 2020, 9.55 a.m .: In the morning, our editorial team received a photo of Munich Airport that a passenger had shot there and sent to her father. On it you can see an Air China machine that seems to have just landed and lets the passengers get out. This caused confusion as many people assume that all flights from Germany to China or vice versa are currently suspended.
As Kathrin Stangl, spokeswoman for Munich Airport told Merkur.de , this does not apply to all airlines. So far, the flights from Air China have never been completely suspended. "The airline itself decides whether a flight will take place or not," says Stangl.
For example, two destinations from Air China were planned for this flight season from Munich Airport. According to the plan, the airline flies once to and from Beijing once a day and three times a week to and from Shanghai . "Since the beginning of the Corona crisis , the airline has decided anew every day whether the flight is now taking place," said the spokeswoman. The airport has no influence on how the decision is made. also on which passengers the airline will let on board. Air China is currently not serving the crisis region of Wuhan, in which the corona virus first appeared, at least from Munich.
Munich Airport: Because of the corona virus - Lufthansa is taking consequences
5:34 p.m .: Further details on the flight cancellations of Lufthansa are now available: According to the group, "all passenger airlines of the Lufthansa Group" are affected - including Eurowings, Swiss and Austrian Airlines . The company literally writes of a "slump in demand", the financial consequences of which would have to be reduced. A hiring freeze is already in force.
Another quite drastic step is also being considered: The entire fleet of the giant Airbus A380 jet in Munich and Frankfurt could be temporarily taken out of service , it is said - the measure is currently being examined. At the request of the Ippen-Digital central editorial office, however, Lufthansa has not yet been able to quantify how many flights will take place in Munich.
Munich Airport: Thousands of flights canceled due to Corona - now Lufthansa is also taking consequences
Update of March 6, 4:36 p.m .: After thousands of flights had been canceled at Munich Airport due to the corona virus , Lufthansa has now also drastically taken consequences . As reported by n-tv.de , the airline cut its flight schedule even further due to the slump in demand as a result of the corona virus. In the next few weeks, the capacity should be reduced by up to 50 percent, the company said.
Health Minister Jens Spahn has since spoken out in favor of canceling all major events with over 1,000 participants.
Munich Airport: Corona virus with significant effects
First report from March 5, 2020
Munich Airport - The corona virus is the topic that hardly anyone can get past. New suspected cases are reported every day, and more and more infected people are confirmed. All over Germany there are now people who are under quarantine. Companies, such as BMW in Munich, are calling on some of their employees to work from home. Shops are cleared, there are "hamster purchases" and disinfectants are nowhere to be found. Schools and kindergartens in several Bavarian counties remain closed - the city of Munich is already responding with such measures.
Corona virus in Bavaria: Significant effects on Munich Airport
The constant fear of an even faster global spread of the corona virus now has an impact on the flight schedule of Munich Airport. Thousands of flights from several airlines have already been canceled there - although, the authorities emphasize, attempts are being made to maintain the airlines as a whole, at least within Europe.
The Lufthansa Group continues to suspend flights to mainland China - at least until April 24, 2020. Then, depending on the situation that then arises, a new decision should be made. This particularly affects flights to Beijing and Shanghai Nanjing, Shenyang and Qingdao. Lufthansa offers passengers rebooking or ticket reimbursement free of charge on these routes.
Read also: Due to an employee infected with the corona virus, a company in Starnberg has now had to close. Spicy: The man was recently in charge of youth footballers from Starnberg in Italy.
Canceled due to corona virus: Lufthansa Group suspends thousands of flights
Due to the current outbreak of the corona virus, the Lufthansa Group also offers guests to northern Italy the opportunity to rebook free of charge. This applies to the destinations Milan, Bologna, Turin, Verona, Venice, Trieste and Genoa and applies to all tickets from Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti. The ticket must have been issued on or before February 26, 2020 for travel between February 24 and March 9.
Lufthansa Group flights to and from Hong Kong will be reduced in March and April. In addition, there will be a reduction in flights of up to 25 percent on short and medium-haul routes of the entire flight network in the coming weeks. In addition to Lufthansa AG, the Lufthansa Group also includes the airlines Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines.
Coronavirus: Lufthansa Group is also canceling flights to Israel - some tickets will be refunded
From Sunday (March 8th) all connections to the Israeli airports of Tel Aviv and Eilat will also be canceled until the winter flight schedule expires on March 28th. The Lufthansa Group announced on Thursday. In addition to Israel and China, Iran is currently not served by the group airlines.
In March, 7100 Lufthansa Group departures from the Frankfurt (3750) and Munich (3350) hubs were canceled. The focus is on domestic German connections with high frequencies and flights to Italy. All European destinations should remain accessible, however, so that customers can be offered a suitable alternative in most cases. In total, around 150 of the Lufthansa Group's 770 aircraft are currently on the ground due to the corona virus.
Despite everything, it is important to avoid panic. Those who suspect that they have contracted the virus should first check whether they have the associated symptoms. In the Bavarian districts of Starnberg and Freising, there are currently a particularly large number of corona cases. In the district of Dachau, a district candidate was even caught - he is in quarantine on suspicion of a corona infection. You can find all other information about the corona virus and its spread in our Germany-wide corona ticker.
The corona virus had first appeared at Webasto in the Bavarian town of Stockdorf - the company boss has now spoken to Markus Lanz on ZDF about the time. The situation in Italy after the Corona outbreak remains very serious. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has now classified a region as a risk area.
A doctor from the district of Munich is also annoyed about the "drug and mask madness" * because of the corona virus. With his Facebook posting, he landed an internet hit.
A security officer at Munich Airport tested positive for the corona virus. The government of Upper Bavaria confirms this on request.
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Matthias Balk
