Due to the fact that heavy snowfall and freezing rain are forecast in parts of Germany for Wednesday, January 17, 2024, there will be operational restrictions at some airports. Lufthansa has already started to drastically reduce its flight schedule.

Fraport AG, operator of Frankfurt am Main Airport, asks travelers to contact the airline to find out the current status of their booking before departing for the airport. The background is that Lufthansa and numerous other airlines have already canceled many flights in advance due to the weather forecast. According to operator information, a total of 17 flights were registered for Wednesday, January 2024, 1.030. How many of these can actually be carried out is currently still completely open.

Germany's second-largest airport, Munich, also expects that there could be weather-related restrictions on Wednesday at least until lunchtime. The Bavarian airport has proactively reduced the available capacity. As a result, top dog Lufthansa in particular has to cancel many flights.

Lufthansa stated, among other things, that it would proactively contact passengers affected by cancellations wherever possible and offer them alternative travel options. It is currently assumed that there could be weather-related restrictions on flight operations on Thursday and possibly Friday. According to the current forecast, the Kranich Group assumes that operations will stabilize on Friday of this week. Lufthansa asks passengers whose connections have been canceled not to travel to the airport, but rather to contact the airline using the hotline or other contact options if necessary.

Safety comes first, but passengers also have rights

Heavy snowfall and freezing rain are particularly problematic in aviation. Ice formation on both the runway and the wings can be extremely detrimental to safety. The braking distance increases significantly and aircraft could slide off the runway. Although such incidents usually go smoothly, they don't always happen and that's exactly what you don't want to do. Ice formation on the wings disrupts aerodynamics. As a result, fatal accidents have occurred repeatedly in the past.

Both the runways and the wings can be de-iced. However, in particularly heavy snowfall and freezing rain, the effectiveness is correspondingly short. This leads to bottlenecks and, under certain circumstances, to the fact that when you have just finished you have to start again straight away because it freezes again.

Regarding the rights of passengers whose flights were canceled due to weather, Julian Navas from the passenger rights portal Airhelp explains as follows: “Passengers affected by flight cancellations are entitled to alternative transport or a full refund of the flight price. As a rule, airlines offer rebooking to an alternative flight. Domestic flights can optionally be rebooked for a train ticket, but there can also be significant delays and train cancellations in train traffic. If the airline does not act on its own initiative or is unable to offer suitable alternative transport, the affected passengers can find an alternative themselves and charge the airline the costs. In order to ensure reimbursement of their costs, affected passengers should under no circumstances change their bookings to buses, trains or other flights without consulting the airline. If there is a delay of more than five hours or if the flight is transported at a later date, the airline is also obliged to refund the full ticket price. In the event of delays of more than two hours, the operating airline must provide meals and drinks to passengers at the airport. In addition, it must be possible to make two telephone calls or send two emails. If necessary, the airlines must also provide accommodation and enable transport there. In any case, it is advisable to request this benefit from the airline. We advise all passengers to retain each receipt in order to obtain reimbursement from airlines for food, refreshments, substitute travel and accommodation costs. Flight cancellations and delays can entitle you to compensation payments of up to 600 euros per passenger. However, this does not apply in exceptional circumstances: Since problems in flight operations due to weather phenomena are not the fault of the airline, passengers are not entitled to compensation.”