summary
- At Frankfurt Airport, heavy rain and flooding caused by thunderstorms caused severe flight disruptions and cancellations.
- Ground handling operations were halted for more than two hours, forcing more than 20 inbound flights to be diverted to other airports.
- The disruption affected more than 1,000 passengers.
Frankfurt Airport had to scale back operations after heavy rain hit the city on Wednesday. Dozens of flights were canceled, and in some cases, flooding in airport grounds prevented passengers from disembarking after landing.
business interruption
On 16 August, thunderstorms and heavy rain flooded Frankfurt Airport (FRA), severely disrupting flight operations. A video circulating on social media shows the plane parked at the airport, surrounded by water. Deutsche Welle reported that some passengers were unable to disembark from aircraft that were able to land.
About 70 flights were canceled due to bad weather, and ground operations were completely halted for more than two hours, according to an airport spokesperson. More than 20 arriving flights were diverted due to bad weather, and more than 1,000 passengers are estimated to have been affected by the disruption.
difficult weather
Severe weather, including thunderstorms, is expected in several parts of central, southeastern, southwestern and western Germany until early August 17. Heavy rain is reported in Frankfurt between 20:00 and 23:00 local time.
Meteorologists recorded more than 25,000 lightning strikes in about an hour, according to local public broadcaster Hessis Landfunk. In fact, videos circulating online clearly demonstrate the severity of the weather conditions.
Prior to this, the German Meteorological Service (DWD) had reported weather conditions in several regions, including western Baden-Württemberg, western Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern and western Germany’s Saarland, and parts of central to western Brandenburg. It had given advance notice of the possibility of severe thunderstorms. A state in central Germany.
post-pandemic recovery
News of the grounding at Frankfurt Airport comes on the heels of reports that the airline had served more than six million passengers, a record since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in July. July is one of the busiest months for summer travel in Frankfurt, with current statistics showing a 20% increase in passenger numbers compared to the same period last year.
Photo: Fivetonnin | Shutterstock
Frankfurt Airport has two passenger terminals and serves nearly 70 million passengers annually to 300 destinations worldwide. Passengers totaled 6,013,522 in July, and there has been a gradual increase in passenger numbers this year, especially since his February.
Freight traffic also increased slightly at Frankfurt Airport in July, with freight volumes of 164,503 tonnes, an increase of 2.3% compared to July 2022. Many airlines are also operating flights to Frankfurt or increasing their capacity. Asiana Airlines recently operated an A380 flight to Frankfurt, and Singapore Airlines will also return its superjumbo to FRA next summer.
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using input from DW