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130 flights cancelled at Munich Airport after Spanish man skips security check

Part of Munich’s airport was evacuated on Tuesday morning after a Spanish man bypassed the security control, causing the cancellation of 130 incoming and outgoing flights.

Published: 27 August 2019 13:17 CEST
130 flights cancelled at Munich Airport after Spanish man skips security check
Passengers stand outside of the closed off Terminal 2 on Tuesday morning. Photo: DPA

The man had arrived at the airport, Germany’s second largest, from Bangkok and was on his way back to Madrid, reported the Süddeutsche Zeitung. 

Prior to an arrival check, he had entered an area of the airport via an emergency exit door where only controlled passengers are allowed, an airport spokesman said.

The federal police then enacted “measures to avert danger” in compliance with EU regulation, it said in a statement, by shutting down Level 5 of Terminal 2 where international flights with passport control are handled.

As it was not initially clear whether the man had then travelled to Terminal 1 by bus, parts of this terminal were also shut down, said police.

Yet the man was “relatively quickly” found and asked to retrace his steps before parts of the airport could reopen, according to police. 

Terminal 1 was reopened around 10:45am and at Terminal 2 at 11:20am after passengers were asked to check in again.

A list of affected flights at Munich Airport on Tuesday morning. Photo: DPA

Flights impacted

A total of 130 outgoing and incoming flights were cancelled, said the airport in a statement. By noon, around 7,500 passengers had been affected by cancellations, reported the reported the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Most were domestic flights, such as those to Berlin, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, and Berlin.

However, the airport did not provide any clear information about the number of delays on Tuesday, but encouraged passengers to check their flight status throughout the day.

On Tuesday, a total 1,200 take-offs and landings were planned. On average, 120,000 passengers travel through the airport per day during the busy summer holidays.

In the morning, some of the 5,000 people waiting outside of Terminal 2  complained on Twitter about not receiving any information at the affected terminals at Munich Airport.

Passengers also took to twitter to complain that there was no water stations around as they waited for the terminals to be reopened. The airport responded by handing out bottled water.

Not the first time

This isn’t the first time an airport shut-down has left passengers in the lurch. At the start of the 2018 summer holidays, the police also closed Terminal 2 of Munich Airport because a 40-year-old woman had passed through a security gate without being checked.

A total of 330 flights were cancelled and more than 31,000 passengers were affected throughout the weekend. The damage amounted to millions of euros.

Following the incident, Munich Airport voluntarily distributed nearly 6,000 €50 vouchers to passengers.

However, the regional court in Erding ruled last year that airlines are not obliged to pay compensation if passengers are unable to fly due to an anti-terrorism measure.

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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