An unexpected heavy snowfall forced six outbound flights – five of them operated by Lufthansa – to abort late-night departures at Munich Airport, leaving around 600 passengers confined to aircraft cabins until morning. With no buses available to ferry travellers back to the terminal during the post-midnight curfew window, the airport sought an ad-hoc extension of take-off permissions, but weather conditions made departures impossible.
Travellers caught in similar last-minute changes should also verify that their travel documents remain valid for unexpected stopovers; VisaHQ’s Germany page (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) offers rapid online checks, application support and real-time status updates that can prevent visa-related headaches when rerouting through Munich or other Schengen hubs.
![Snowstorm strands 600 passengers overnight on Munich airport tarmac]()
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of 21 February, triggered a police investigation after a third party requested a review of possible criminal liability. A preliminary report has been forwarded to the Landshut public prosecutor. Although no passengers have yet filed complaints, Lufthansa has promised compensation and both the airline and airport operator have issued public apologies.
For mobility managers the episode underlines winter-operations risk at Europe’s second-largest connected-hub after Frankfurt. Companies routing time-critical assignments through Munich in February and March should ensure overnight flight curfew exemptions do not create passenger-handling gaps when ground transport resources are stretched by weather.
Insurers also note that standard EU261 compensation may not apply if extraordinary circumstances are proven, so corporates may need to budget goodwill payments to travellers over and above statutory entitlements.
Travellers caught in similar last-minute changes should also verify that their travel documents remain valid for unexpected stopovers; VisaHQ’s Germany page (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) offers rapid online checks, application support and real-time status updates that can prevent visa-related headaches when rerouting through Munich or other Schengen hubs.
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of 21 February, triggered a police investigation after a third party requested a review of possible criminal liability. A preliminary report has been forwarded to the Landshut public prosecutor. Although no passengers have yet filed complaints, Lufthansa has promised compensation and both the airline and airport operator have issued public apologies.
For mobility managers the episode underlines winter-operations risk at Europe’s second-largest connected-hub after Frankfurt. Companies routing time-critical assignments through Munich in February and March should ensure overnight flight curfew exemptions do not create passenger-handling gaps when ground transport resources are stretched by weather.
Insurers also note that standard EU261 compensation may not apply if extraordinary circumstances are proven, so corporates may need to budget goodwill payments to travellers over and above statutory entitlements.
