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Travel

Heavy snowfall cancels flights in Munich

January 5, 2019

Passengers at Munich Airport are facing flight cancellations and long delays due to continuing snowfall in southern Germany. Some 120 flights have already been canceled and more may follow, an airport official told DW.

https://p.dw.com/p/3B4W7
snowplow in Munich
Image: picture alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe

At least 120 flights were canceled and some 70 delayed by an hour or more at Munich Airport, an airport spokeswoman told DW on Saturday. The officials at Germany's second-largest airport were forced to disrupt the flight schedule due to heavy snowfall since Friday.

"Right now, it is difficult to estimate if there are going to be more cancellations during the day," spokeswoman Kathrin Stangl told DW. "We need to wait and see how the weather changes."

The airport advises passengers to inquire about their flight status with their respective airlines.

One of the reasons for the delay is that all the planes at the airport are being de-iced, according to the AFP news agency. The airport authorities are also keeping only one of the two runways operational while the other one is being cleaned.

Air traffic control also imposed restrictions due to decreased visibility.

Originally, the airport had around 850 flights scheduled for Saturday.

Trains disrupted too

The snowfall in Munich is expected to continue.

A snowplow cleans a street in Munich
The snowstorm also caused disruption on Munich streetsImage: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe

Separately, regional Bavarian railway company Waldbahn reported that it was forced to completely halt its trains due to severe weather. Several trees fell down under the weight of snow and blocked the rails, and the cleanup would only be possible after the conditions improve, they said.

dj/amp (AFP, dpa)

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