Status: 12.10.2023, 19:30 PM
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A Lufthansa Boeing 747 jumbo jet from Tel Aviv taxies to its parking position at Frankfurt Airport after landing. © Hannes Albert/dpa-Pool/dpa
They had to wait for days. Now the first Germans and their relatives have landed back home in an operation organised by the Federal Foreign Office. But there is also criticism.
Berlin - The first Germans have returned home from Israel, which has been attacked by the Islamist Hamas, on special Lufthansa flights. The first special aircraft from Tel Aviv landed at Frankfurt Airport on Thursday evening with 370 passengers. A second plane landed in Munich. Further flights were to follow in the course of Thursday and tomorrow, Friday. Nevertheless, criticism of the organisation of the action by the Foreign Office was voiced from the Union.
With the first three of four special flights planned for Thursday, more than 660 German citizens and their family members were able to leave the country, the Foreign Office said. A total of 950 Germans and their relatives left Israel that day - in addition to the special flights, a ferry to Cyprus was organized as a further option.
Germans who have registered on the Federal Foreign Office's precautionary list for crisis information were able to register for the flights. Lufthansa had promised to offer up to four flights each from Tel Aviv on Thursday and Friday: two each to Frankfurt and Munich. Departure times were scheduled for 13:30 p.m., 14:30 p.m., 16:00 p.m. and 17:00 p.m. (local time) on both days. The flights were expected to have a total capacity of about 1000 people per day.
Problems with registration
The returned passengers were relieved after their arrival, some were welcomed by relatives. He was very relieved not to have to reckon with rocket attacks anymore, said Christoph Schaefer from Erbendorf in Bavaria. He had gone to Israel on vacation and was supposed to fly back on Sunday. "Tel Aviv has been spared the biggest hits," he said. However, he did notice individual impacts. "200 meters from us, a rocket hit an apartment." Five people were injured.
Schaefer reported problems registering for the return flight. The telephone line was always busy. "But after 17 attempts, sometime around 5:00 a.m., I finally made it," he said.
Tourist Marlene Knüpfer was also happy to be back in Germany. "It was stressful, especially with all the vibrations that you felt all the time," she said. In total, there were ten alarms.
Federal Foreign Office organises departure by ferry
The German Foreign Ministry said that after some airlines had stopped flights, it had ensured that special Lufthansa flights were now flying to Israel again. At the same time, it was emphasized: "We are continuing to work on ways to leave the country - by plane, by bus, by ship." German nationals had been informed about this via the so-called Elefand system - the ministry's crisis preparedness list.
According to a so-called compatriot's letter from the German embassy in Israel, a fee of 300 euros per person is due for participation in the special flights. The money is to be collected when booking via a Lufthansa hotline on behalf of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to dpa information, Lufthansa charges 550 euros per person, 250 euros is paid by the state.
Union politician Hardt: Hotline permanently occupied - "Unworthy chaos"
The foreign policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Jürgen Hardt (CDU), criticized the organization of the special flights. The departure of the Germans is progressing only slowly. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has "tried to outsource the problem of leaving the country to Lufthansa with as little effort as possible. The result is ongoing chaos," Hardt told the German Press Agency. It is time for her to "act and make the process a top priority."
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His parliamentary group colleague, defence policy spokesman Florian Hahn, said: "The solution, as we as the CDU/CSU parliamentary group have already suggested, would be simple: Our air force is and was ready to provide immediate support. Anyone who does not want to fall back on the obvious and correct solutions for ideological reasons is unsuitable for crisis management."
Hardt criticized the fact that the hotline for the few flights is constantly busy, and that people sometimes have telephone bills in the four-digit range because of hours of cell phone calls from Israel. With regard to advance payment by means of credit card numbers given over the phone, the CDU politician said: "It could hardly be more impractical, especially for school classes, children and old people." In addition, there is apparently no prioritization of people for the flights, although the Germans have specially entered themselves in lists of the Foreign Office at the location. "However, the first-come, first-served principle suits business people much more than families with children, who cannot wait in the hotline continuously and at all times."
Two Lufthansa special planes with German nationals from Israel are expected at Frankfurt Airport today. © Boris Roessler/dpa
Cornelia Möhring, a member of the Left Party in the Bundestag, criticized that eight flights were far from enough to fly out all those who wanted to leave the country. The German government must do everything possible "to fly people with German citizenship out of the war zone as quickly as possible." Dpa