Several federal states have started the summer holidays, others will follow at the weekend. Long queues formed at the airport in Hanover.
Hanover – In Germany, the summer holidays begin in five other federal states at the weekend: Already from today (July 14) in Bremen, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt; in Thuringia and Saxony they officially start on July 18th. For many people, the anxious question arises as to whether the trip to vacation will end in chaos, as has recently been observed time and again at airports.
As far as the road is concerned, the ADAC warns of longer traffic jams at the beginning of the holiday season. The motorways to the south are affected, but also access roads to the low mountain ranges, the local recreation areas and lake landscapes. But it could also get crowded to the north. According to the ADAC, the reason for this is holiday returnees. A high volume of traffic threatens on the A8 between Stuttgart and Salzburg, in the metropolitan areas of Hamburg and Berlin and on the trunk roads to and from the North and Baltic Seas.
Travel chaos: Long queues at Hanover Airport
The airports in northern and central Germany are expecting a rush of vacationers. “After two summers shaped by the corona pandemic, holidaymakers are clearly keen to travel and have to catch up. For the next six weeks, we are expecting a very high utilization of all flights,” said Raoul Hille, Managing Director of Hanover Airport.
At the airport in Langenhagen, the waiting room filled up properly on the first day of vacation. From the early hours of the morning, a line about 300 meters long formed, “reaching from one terminal to the next,” reports the NDR. Airport spokeswoman Kristin Peschel expected that it would be particularly crowded early in the morning and in the evening.
Travel chaos could be avoided: Some airports see themselves well prepared
The situation at Münster-Osnabrück (FMO) airport and in Bremen is likely to be more relaxed. The FMO seems to be well prepared for the start of the holidays in Lower Saxony. When NRW started its summer vacation at the end of June, the airport announced to Radio WAF that there were enough staff for security checks and apron handling. While Düsseldorf Airport had experienced chaos “with the announcement”, things had actually remained calm at FMO. There are also sufficient staff at Bremen Airport.
As in the past week at Hamburg Airport, you have to reckon with longer waiting times at the airports during the holiday season due to a lack of staff. However, the situation seems different at the Saxon airports Leipzig/Halle and Dresden. No chaos is expected, said the boss of Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG, Götz Ahmelmann, of the picture . Sufficient staff would be available. “We didn’t have to lay off any of the service and handling staff.” Here you can read five tips on how to avoid airport chaos and have a relaxed holiday. (mt)
