At Memmingen Airport, scenes have again played out that are far removed from the applicable corona protective measures.
A passenger reports.
Memmingerberg / Unterallgäu - The plane touched the ground gently. The passengers collect their hand luggage and get ready to disembark. Among them the Bentler couple. They landed at Memmingen Airport after their one and a half hour flight from Varna. You visited your son in Bulgaria who is studying medicine there. The two of them take the bus to a tent where several federal police officers are already waiting for them. After a short check of their negative Corona-PCR test *, the couple continue to the arrival hall. When the sliding doors open, however, the two almost hit a blow. Crowds of people crowded together wait for their clearance. "It felt like there were four to five people standing in one square meter," says Martin Bentler (60) looking back.
It's Labor Day, but hardly anyone seems to be working here.
The crowd hardly decreases.
Worse still - more and more people pour into the already crammed hall from behind.
Then the sliding doors are closed.
No more back and forth possible.
After a quarter of an hour, the first shock is over.
“I thought I landed at the airport of a banana republic,” recalls the 60-year-old.
He pulls out his smartphone and films the incomprehensible scenery.
Memmingen Airport: Police do not intervene and pass on responsibility
The hall in which Bentler and his wife are stuck is called the non-Schengen entry area in airport jargon. It covers an area of around 120 square meters. Approved number of people according to the responsible health department Unterallgäu at this time: 60 people. According to the airport, only 50 people can be seen in the photo that Bentler shot that afternoon. And the photo should already cover around 80 percent of the room. But even with this very cautious estimate, there would still be too many people crammed into the area in a very small space. Maintaining the given distance of 1.50 meters has not been possible for a long time anyway.
After about half an hour, Martin Bentler's wife, Cornelia Hamm-Bentler, becomes too much. She squeezes past the other guests and tries to get in the direction of passport control. A narrow corridor leads to the inspecting officers of the Federal Police. She speaks to the head of operations of the border police, who was waiting behind the control desk with around eight other officers. Identifies herself as a doctor. The 58-year-old works as an ophthalmologist in Garching near Munich and also vaccinates against Corona * at the Bad Tölz-Wplfratshausen vaccination center. She asks the head of operations whether he wants to intervene to avert danger and dissolve this "forced corona party". He weighs it down and says that he no longer has any powers behind the control area.In addition, the responsible health department would have approved the conditions several times.
Memmingen Airport: Passenger has anxiety and claustrophobia
Hamm-Bentler returns to her husband with resignation.
There the two notice a young woman.
She has panic, claustrophobic anxiety.
“She was pale as a sheet,” says Bentler.
She was also very afraid of contracting Corona *.
The ophthalmologist takes care of her.
She takes them to the controls - again through the much too narrow aisle.
Nothing can be seen of the airport staff or the border police.
The wait is over for her - Cornelia Hamm-Bentler returns to her husband.
In a letter from the police headquarters in Swabia South / West, it later said: "Beyond that, the police are not aware of any incident in which a woman suffered health problems."
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The passport control corridor narrows considerably - it is hardly possible to keep your distance here.
© private
While the 60-year-old waits for his wife, Bentler notices another detail that pisses him off.
Several fans rotate on the ceiling of the room.
However, it cannot see any ventilation slots or air shafts.
“In Corona times, they lock us in much too narrow a space and only have these foul whorls for air exchange.
They still distribute the aerosols instead of exchanging the air, ”says Bentler annoyed.
However, when asked, the airport states that there is “an automated fresh air supply through modern ventilation systems” in the arrivals area.
The air exchange in the buildings would even be well above the value recommended by the Indoor Air Hygiene Commission (IRK).
Memmingen Airport: Police are trying to justify their action
When the Bentler couple arrives at passport control after about an hour, the 60-year-old does not want to let it go and speaks to the head of operations at the border police again.
Like his wife, he asked him why he didn't intervene when he saw an obvious dangerous situation.
Then the policeman is said to have yelled at him about who he thought he was.
That the question upset him.
And that it was none of his business.
“A bizarre situation,” sums up Bentler.
Then the officer added why he was traveling at all if things were too tight for him.
“I've never seen anything like this before,” summarizes the 60-year-old.
In the statement of the police it is further said that although one is responsible for the "compliance with the regulations according to the Corona Entry Ordinance", this primarily includes the obligation to register, the control of test certificates and the obligation to separate. The airport operator and his employees are generally responsible for compliance with the distance and hygiene rules.
One writes about the situation with Mr. Bentler.
"The police take the concerns of travelers seriously and always look for solutions based on the individual case, with those responsible, to improve the situation of the travelers and, if necessary, to intervene in the event of violations." However, the police seem indignant with this Appearance of the 60-year-old, because in another sentence it says: "In this context, however, travelers may also be expected to be at least polite with the officers."
Memmingen Airport: Health Department and Airport are responding
After the unpleasant experience at Memmingen Airport, Martin Bentler himself contacted the responsible health department in Unterallgäu.
There, the 60-year-old's complaint was apparently taken very seriously and an on-site inspection was ordered for May 5th.
The conclusion of the assessment is as follows: “After the most recent incident, the number of people who are allowed to stay in the waiting area was again reduced from 60 to 40.
In addition, the airport operator has now set up tents to defuse the situation even in bad weather. ”In addition, according to Bentler's conversation with the authorities, they have relied on the Bavarian border police to monitor the implementation of the district office's submissions and if necessary intervenes.
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Such lightweight halls are supposed to equalize the flow of incoming passengers.
© Memmingen Airport
And Memmingen Airport has finally reacted too.
You finally have to say, because similar scenes took place at the airport in January.
Now the aim is to use lightweight halls - there are three of them (one 600 square meter, two 300 square meter) - to improve the arrival situation for passengers and guarantee the 40 people specified in the non-Schengen area.
"The halls are" used for the entry of every aircraft, "says the airport.
The Bentler couple are happy that something has happened because of their complaint - even if the shock about what they experienced is still deep.
For the 60-year-old, it is incomprehensible how "that could be allowed again and again in the Corona model country Bavaria and was not finally prevented".
At first he had hoped that it was "a one-time breakdown".
But after his research he found that the exceptional case seems to be the rule.
(tel)
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