Germany's Airports Busy with Extra Health Checks but Not Overwhelmed

Berlin — Despite fears of travel chaos at German airports as the half-term holidays began in some states this weekend, most airports, while busy, reported working largely as normal.

Lengthy queues were seen at Berlin's airport a week ago, with some travellers missing flights due to long lines. A spokesperson said that despite queues at check in, the capital's airport was operating as usual.

Longer lines were reported at airports in Hamburg and Hanover too. There was a rush early in the morning and the terminals at Hamburg airport were full, according to a spokesperson.

There were also large numbers of passengers at Frankfurt airport, Germany's largest hub, according to a spokesperson, who said people were not having to wait for a long time, however, and operations were running as normal.

Pandemic checks meant travellers were also waiting in line for longer at Munich airport, but there were no problems, according to a spokesperson. "The flights all left on time. We haven't received any complaints."

Police and airport operators throughout the country called on passengers to arrive as early as possible in order to check in and go through passport and security controls, suggesting arriving a minimum of two hours before departure given the additional health checks necessary for all passengers.

Luckily, though, there was no repeat of the scenes in Berlin last week when passengers wound up in the wrong queues, were unable to find their luggage or missed their connections due to the waiting times, as travel surged with the beginning of the half-term break.

Airports and service providers are finding themselves in a new position, according to German airport association ADV.

"After months of almost complete air traffic standstill due to the pandemic, the significant increase in passenger numbers at the beginning of the holiday season is temporarily leading to capacity bottlenecks at individual locations," association head Ralph Beisel said.

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