Munich airport has “sincerely apologised” after hundreds of passengers were forced to spend a night on planes following heavy snowfall.
Around 600 travellers were stuck sleeping in aircraft cabins at Munich airport on Thursday after six late-night flight cancellations.
Affected flights included five Lufthansa Group journeys to Copenhagen, Singapore, Gdansk and two to Graz and Venice operated by Air Dolomiti, a Lufthansa Group subsidiary.
An additional flight operated by Air Arabia was also grounded due to the “exceptional weather conditions”, said the German airport.
Munich airport is usually subject to strict night flight regulations between midnight and 5am.
On Thursday, takeoff permission was extended to 1am to clear departures delayed by the weather, as approved by the Ministry of Transport.
A spokesperson for Munich airport said, “Due to the exceptional weather conditions, these aircraft had to turn back unexpectedly. The reason for this was that heavy, wet snowfall led to longer than average de-icing times and the need to close the runways at short notice for snow clearance. As a result, the affected aircraft were unable to meet the 1am deadline.
“The available terminal capacity was already occupied by cancelled flights that had been parked during the day, which is why the late-returning aircraft had to be parked in remote positions.”
Due to the late hour, bus services were “severely limited”, said the airport.
One impacted journey, Lufthansa flight LH2446, had been scheduled to depart Munich at 9.30pm for a 90-minute flight to Copenhagen.
After boarding, rolling delays due to adverse weather eventually led to the flight’s cancellation shortly before 12pm.
Although airline staff attempted to arrange transportation back to the gate, at around 2am, an update from the crew informed the 123 people onboard that “all bus drivers had already gone home” and “we are not allowed to leave the plane”, passenger Søren Thieme told Danish outlet Ekstra Bladet.
Passengers remained onboard at a remote stand for up to seven hours before a bus arrived to return travellers to the terminal building.
Passengers disembarked in the early hours of Friday after buses finally arrived, with many rebooked onto the first available departure to Copenhagen.
The airport said: “We are aware that the situation on Thursday evening was difficult and hard to understand for passengers. We sincerely apologise to the passengers affected.”
“At no time were passengers in danger. The airlines provided the best possible care for passengers on board the aircraft.”
Munich airport added that it is working with partners to “fully clarify the situation and implement immediate process improvements”.
A Lufthansa spokesperson said: “The crews kept passengers informed and provided them with the catering available on board, as far as possible. All aircraft were heated and had sufficient power.
“It took hours before buses could pick up the passengers and they were able to leave the aircraft. A total of around 500 passengers were affected.
“We sincerely apologise to all our passengers for this unacceptable situation. Together with our partners at Munich Airport, we are doing everything we can to ensure that such mistakes do not happen again. Lufthansa contacted the affected passengers on Friday. Passengers will receive appropriate compensation payments.”
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