Leave Corona behind and go on vacation: That’s what many people are currently thinking. The result is long queues at the airports. The operators appeal: Please come well prepared.
Berlin – The start of the autumn holidays in several federal states has demanded patience and good nerves from many air travelers – not least because of Corona. For example, there were unusually long queues in front of the counters at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on Saturday morning.
Videos on social media showed people waiting across the check-in halls. Some vacationers were worried about missing their flight. There was also a lot going on at Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt and Hamburg.
An airport spokesman in Berlin confirmed to the German Press Agency that there was “massive rush to around 9.30 am”, with waiting times that sometimes lasted for hours. It cannot be ruled out that some of them may not have reached their plane. The newspaper “BZ” (online) reported first. In the early afternoon, according to a dpa reporter, it was already quieter in the airport building. Accordingly, there were queues in particular before the security check, but no chaotic conditions.
Counter 4. @berlinairport: “We are a bit understaffed, we can’t take any further action”. Asked what to do from people threatening to miss their flight. Answer: “I’m not @Lufthansa.” That’s only half, the whole line doesn’t fit on Twitter pic.twitter.com/0Yjv86NVJC
– Christine Kensche (@c_kensche) October 9, 2021
“Everyone works hard and does their job as best they can,” said the spokesman. A high number of passengers is expected again for Sunday. It is becoming noticeable that more and more vaccinated people now want to go on vacation again. Therefore, a large number of visitors can still be expected.
According to the spokesman, the reason for the long queues was bottlenecks at the check-ins. In Corona times, the processes would take significantly longer, for example because of the control of vaccination passports. The airport spokesman appealed to travelers: “Be there two hours early.” When checking in, vacationers should have their papers and vaccination card to hand immediately in order to keep waiting times short.
The operator of Frankfurt Airport, Fraport, took a similar approach. Because of the many special corona regulations, he recommended careful travel preparation and all necessary documents “to have to hand at all times”. Frankfurt Airport also had a large number of visitors at the start of the autumn break in Hesse. The terminals are well filled, there could be occasional waiting times, said a spokesman on Saturday.
At Cologne / Bonn Airport, however, the start of the vacation in North Rhine-Westphalia went off without any major problems, according to a spokesman. Occasionally there is a waiting time of a few minutes at the security controls, but overall it is a normal holiday operation. Most recently, the two largest NRW airports Düsseldorf and Cologne / Bonn had warned of possible delays during the holidays due to the special regulations in the corona pandemic. dpa
