There was no exception to the night flight ban at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport for the Bundesliga soccer players of FC Bayern Munich. This meant that after the match against Hertha BSC, the team had to spend the night in the Airbus A350-1000 with the registration A7-ANB on the apron of BER.

FC Bayern announced that permission to take off at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport was refused. The long-haul jet that was to fly to Doha under flight number QR7402 had yet to be de-iced. The A7-ANB was then ready to take off just one minute before midnight, but the night flight ban begins at midnight. The permit was refused and despite repeated attempts, the responsible authority of the state of Brandenburg remains tough and the footballers had to stay on the ground.

Unplanned stopover in Munich

The team and the support staff as well as the crew then stayed overnight on the apron of BER in the Airbus A350-1000 from Qatar Airways. It wasn't until Saturday morning at 6:52 a.m. that the green light was given and the long-haul jet with the FC Bayern soccer player on board was allowed to take off. But then the next problem came:

Due to the flight duty regulations, Qatar Airways had to replace the crew of the A7-ANB. The result: the Airbus A350-1000 had to make a stopover in Munich, where another crew took over. The onward flight to the actual destination, Doha, took off at 9:16 in the Bavarian capital.

Compared to the Bild newspaper, FC Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said that he “feels totally ripped off by the responsible authorities in Brandenburg politics”. They don't even know what they “did” to the soccer team. The Champions Leauge winner will meet the Egyptian club Al Ahly SC at the Club World Cup on Monday.