travel
Personnel bottlenecks at Fraport – individual flights canceled
An airplane lands behind signal lights at Frankfurt Airport. The airport company Fra Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Around 170,000 passengers are expected at Frankfurt Airport at Easter. But the operator Fraport is struggling with a lack of staff. This could lead to delays.
Isolated flight cancellations and longer waiting times at Frankfurt Airport: holidaymakers have to be prepared for bottlenecks in the Easter wave of travel due to a lack of staff at the airport operator Fraport.
Fraport manager Alexander Laukenmann said on Thursday that various measures are being taken together with the airlines and service providers. It is also about the question of whether feeder flights could be shifted to the train, for example. “We have a very good partnership at Frankfurt Airport and we are able to balance the traffic rush that we are expecting and looking forward to in the best possible way.”
Laukenmann did not provide any information on the number of connections that might be affected. One is in discussions with the airlines. It is about canceling certain flights in advance, where this is possible without major disadvantages for the passengers, and offering them alternative options well before the start of the journey.
Domestic feeder flights affected
A Lufthansa spokeswoman said it was mainly isolated domestic feeder flights. “We try to keep the effects as low as possible and rebook the guests on the train.” In many federal states, including Hesse, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, the Easter holidays begin at the end of the week.
The airport operator expects up to 170,000 travelers a day at Germany’s largest airport during the Easter holiday wave. Around 1,100 aircraft would take off and land in Frankfurt every day. The number is thus approaching the level of the time before the Corona crisis.
According to the information, there may be longer waiting times, especially at security checks and at baggage claim on return. Fraport expects strong peaks in traffic, especially in the late morning and early afternoon.
Jobs cut in the Corona crisis
During the Corona crisis, in which passenger numbers collapsed, the airport operator put the brakes on costs and cut jobs. Some employees affected by short-time work also migrated to other sectors. The search for new staff is not easy because the labor market in Germany, but also in Europe, is relatively empty, reported Laukenmann. “This means that we are somewhat delayed in building up the necessary qualified personnel to deal with these travel peaks that are now occurring,” said the Fraport Division Manager Aviation. The company wants to hire around 1,000 new employees in the operational area this year.
The airport association ADV recently calculated for Easter with 65 to 75 percent of the traffic volume from the time before the corona pandemic. “The challenge will be that the flights are not evenly distributed throughout the day. There are significant peak times, sometimes with more flights than before Corona,” said ADV CEO Ralph Beisel recently. “All airports are in intensive talks with the service providers involved in handling.”
Fraport currently recommends vacationers to be at the terminal no later than two and a half hours before departure. As far as possible, travelers should check in online and check in their luggage the night before. Passengers should prepare the trip carefully to avoid post-baggage checks at the airport.