Flight chaos in Düsseldorf: Eurowings cancels numerous flights - long queues at check-in
Created: 2022-06-23 04:53
By: Martina Lippl
Long lines at check-in.
Holidaymakers have to be prepared for long waiting times at Düsseldorf Airport, as was the case last year (photo).
© Rupert Oberhäuser/imago
The German airports are at the limit.
Chaos now reigned at Düsseldorf Airport (NRW).
Hundreds of passengers were stranded because of canceled Eurowings flights.
Dusseldorf – After two years of Corona, many Germans have gripped the desire to travel.
The demand for flights is immense.
But even at the start of the holiday there can be a nasty surprise.
Holiday joy often comes to an abrupt end at German airports.
Long queues at check-in at Düsseldorf Airport: Eurowings has a chance of flight connections at short notice
After long queues at check-in and the security check, the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings canceled several flights at Düsseldorf Airport (NRW) at short notice on Sunday.
The reason for this is bitter: There was simply a lack of staff, as reported by the
Kölner Stadtanzeiger
.
Lufthansa also cut connections at short notice, it said.
The frustration of some travelers was great.
Many travelers had followed the airline's instructions and planned more time for check-in.
A couple from Vienna actually wanted to fly home on Sunday.
The two were there three hours before the actual boarding time at Düsseldorf Airport.
“The flight to Vienna was simply canceled an hour and a half before departure without comment.
We find that outrageous," says the couple in the
Kölner Stadtanzeiger.
At the Eurowings service desk, only two employees then handled the rebooking or the retrieval of luggage for the hundreds of stranded passengers.
Once again, long queues are said to have formed at the counter.
At Eurowings, flights from Düsseldorf to Budapest, Vienna, Faro, Malaga, Milan and Newcastle were affected.
Other Eurowings flights started with a significant delay.
“Numerous airlines across Europe are currently being forced to adjust their program due to the overload of the air traffic infrastructure, including Eurowings.
The situation is leading to strained personnel reserves across the industry, which is currently leading to isolated flight cancellations," a spokesman for the airline admitted to the newspaper.
Flight chaos: Even in Austria, travelers have to be prepared for problems
All airports and airlines across Europe are currently struggling with staff shortages.
In Austria, scenes similar to those at Düsseldorf Airport played out at the weekend.
Eurowings canceled flights at Salzburg Airport and Innsbruck Airport.
Hundreds of vacationers were affected, as reported by the Austrian
Kronenzeitung
.
500 passengers were stranded in Salzburg.
Many vacationers received a notification on the way to the flight that their flight had been cancelled.
Eurowings also canceled flights at short notice on Saturday.
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In one case, Innsbruck Airport said that the airline was only informed in the morning that part of the crew was missing.
At Vienna Airport, Austrian Airlines (AUA) had to cancel connections because there had been a corona infection among crew members.
This is reported by the Austrian
courier
and refers to an AUA spokeswoman.
There are no general staff shortages at AUA.
On Sunday, 97 percent of the flight program was carried out.
Is Germany threatened with flight chaos for the summer holidays?
Flying into the summer vacation is probably a matter of luck this year.
Due to a lack of staff, Lufthansa and its subsidiary Eurowings have already pulled the ripcord.
The flight calendar is already thinned out.
The airlines canceled more than a thousand flights in July from Frankfurt and Munich alone.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) does not expect the situation to ease at German airports any time soon.
"Short-term solutions would be extremely desirable, but are not very likely," said Wissing a week ago the
picture on Sunday (BamS).
In less than a week, the summer holidays will begin in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Will the big airports and airlines get their staffing problems under control?
The Pentecost weekend already provided a foretaste.
Thousands of Brits were stuck at airports abroad.
The Dutch airline KLM had simply abandoned thousands of passengers at various airports in Europe.
The airlines Easyjet, British Airways and Tui also canceled a number of flights, as in the days before.
(ml)