A Condor flight from Palma de Mallorca missed the curfew at Munich by mere seconds earlier this week. Flight DE1513 was just 2,100 feet from touching down when the clock ticked over 12:30 am, forcing the aircraft to divert to Frankfurt-Hahn airport 375 kilometers away. The story was first reported by German newspaper Bild, who just happened to have a reporter on the flight.
How can that possibly happen?
Many German airports have a strict nighttime curfew and airlines and airports can be heavily fined for operations outside permitted times. The standard curfew at Munich is 12:00 am, though exemptions are allowed through 12:30 if requested before a flight departs. That is precisely what happened in this case, with Condor requesting an exemption to 12:30 am. Unfortunately, the flight was further delayed and just barely missed its arrival window.
Off to a bad start
The day did not start off well for Condor’s A321 D-ATCA. The aircraft overnighted in Hamburg and was scheduled out to Hurghada at 6:05 am. The flight departed nearly 90 minutes late, but made up some time landing just an hour late. The aircraft then operated between 60-90 minutes late for the rest of the day, eventually extending into early the morning of 3 June and breaking the Munich curfew.
What happens to the passengers?
From Hahn, passengers were bussed to Frankfurt (FRA) and placed on Condor’s morning flight to Munich arriving just before 08:00 am the following day— more than nine hours after their scheduled arrival time.
Adding insult to injury, the aircraft that diverted actually ferried back to Munich ahead of the passengers.
Have your say
What do you think about the diversion? Is this a case of rules-are-rules or is it regulation run amok? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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