500 Lufthansa Passengers Trapped Overnight On Planes At Munich Airport

Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany and one of Europe's largest airline groups, has been facing major backlash after admitting that 500 passengers were trapped overnight in five of their planes at Munich airport. The disturbing incident occurred due to a combination of bad weather, airport closures, and a shortage of bus drivers. This affected flights to Copenhagen, Singapore, Gdansk, Graz, and Venice.

Lufthansa admitted to RTL that 123 passengers bound for Copenhagen (flight LH 2446) had to spend the night from Thursday (February 19th) to Friday in a parked Airbus A320 at a remote stand. The chaos in Munich, however, was reportedly far worse than what was recently acknowledged.

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Far more people were allegedly locked in stationary planes, which are otherwise classified as being tightly packed. Passengers even claimed that there was no staff to get them out. Neither Lufthansa nor the airport could organise a bus to return passengers to the terminal.

Five aircraft belonging to the airline group which were affected carried 500 passengers, according to a Lufthansa spokesperson. These included:

• Flight LH 768: Munich to Singapore
• Flight LH 2446: Munich to Copenhagen
• Flight LH 1646: Munich to Gdansk
• Flight EN 8016: Munich to Graz (operated by Air Dolomiti)
• Flight EN 8206: Munich to Venice (operated by Air Dolomiti)

According to RTL, there had been delays and cancellations in Munich throughout the day. But in the end, hundreds of passengers were stranded on their aircraft despite having extended takeoff permission until 1 AM, rather than midnight. Finally, the airport ceased operations, regardless of how many people were trapped inside or whether there was anything to eat or drink.

An official from Lufthansa told RTL, “According to airport regulations, the aircraft had to return to an off-airport parking position. Parking at the terminal building was not possible,” adding, “Due to an insufficient number of apron buses provided by FMG [Munich Airport GmbH], the passengers were initially unable to disembark. The crews kept the passengers informed and provided them with the drinks and food available on board as best they could. Only after several hours were the passengers able to be picked up by the buses and thus leave the aircraft.”

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According to the report, Munich Airport had only one bus driver on duty during the chaotic night. Airport spokesman Robert Wilhelm added that "bus capacity on the aprons was limited." Passengers are now seeking compensation and a proper response to their ordeal.