Air passengers faced widespread disruption on 9 January as Hamburg Airport (HAM), Germany’s fifth-busiest hub, cancelled at least 25 departures and 22 arrivals by early afternoon. Freezing winds and low visibility brought by storm “Elli” made de-icing operations slow and unsafe; each aircraft required a full anti-icing treatment, stretching ground-handling resources.
Lufthansa, Eurowings and KLM pre-emptively scrubbed services to Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam and Paris, warning that rotations later in the day could follow suit if conditions failed to improve. The airport urged passengers to check flight status before leaving home and to allow extra time for security, where staff worked reduced lanes because some could not reach the airport.
![Hamburg Airport cancels more than 40 flights as storm grounds aircraft across northern Germany]()
The cancellations ripple beyond Hamburg. Missed connections at Frankfurt jeopardise long-haul itineraries to Asia and the Americas, while cargo operators reported delays in perishable exports such as pharmaceutical samples and machine parts. The storm has also hit neighbouring Schiphol, where KLM cancelled 80 flights, adding pressure on capacity in north-west Europe.
Travel-risk advisers recommend that corporates re-book via Düsseldorf or Copenhagen, both outside the worst storm belt, and remind staff that EU261 compensation rules may not apply because extreme weather is considered “extraordinary circumstances.”
Airport authorities will reassess runway conditions every two hours. Weather models suggest winds will ease overnight, but temperatures will stay below freezing, meaning de-icing bottlenecks could persist into the morning wave on 10 January.
Lufthansa, Eurowings and KLM pre-emptively scrubbed services to Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam and Paris, warning that rotations later in the day could follow suit if conditions failed to improve. The airport urged passengers to check flight status before leaving home and to allow extra time for security, where staff worked reduced lanes because some could not reach the airport.
The cancellations ripple beyond Hamburg. Missed connections at Frankfurt jeopardise long-haul itineraries to Asia and the Americas, while cargo operators reported delays in perishable exports such as pharmaceutical samples and machine parts. The storm has also hit neighbouring Schiphol, where KLM cancelled 80 flights, adding pressure on capacity in north-west Europe.
Travel-risk advisers recommend that corporates re-book via Düsseldorf or Copenhagen, both outside the worst storm belt, and remind staff that EU261 compensation rules may not apply because extreme weather is considered “extraordinary circumstances.”
Airport authorities will reassess runway conditions every two hours. Weather models suggest winds will ease overnight, but temperatures will stay below freezing, meaning de-icing bottlenecks could persist into the morning wave on 10 January.
Source: Welt / Reuters
