Munich Airport cancels flights on Dec 5 morning due to sleet forecast

Munich – Munich Airport has cancelled all incoming and outgoing flights on Dec 5 until 12 p.m. (1100GMT) due to a forecast for sleet overnight, it said in a statement on Dec 4.

At least 150 departures and 160 arrivals are affected, it added. Flights are to be resumed in the afternoon, but further restrictions to traffic are expected.

About 43cm of snow fell in parts of southern Germany on Dec 2, an unusually large amount for early December, and what local news media reported was the biggest daily snowfall in Munich in December since records had been kept. Officials shut down the rail station in the city as well, and police advised drivers to stay off the roads.

Flights started taking off again at about 6am (1pm, Singapore time) from Munich airport, Germany’s second-biggest air hub. But airport officials warned there would still be delays and cancellations.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking service, said at least 200 flights had been cancelled on Dec 3. The day before, twice that number had been.

And Deutsche Bahn, the operator of Germany’s railways, urged customers planning to depart from or arrive at Munich’s main train station to wait until Dec 4 to travel.

Activities across the city were also cancelled, including a Bayern Munich football game against Union Berlin on Dec 2.

Separately, blizzards hit Moscow, bringing record snowfall and disrupting flights, as winter weather swept across Russia on Dec 4. Temperatures were forecast to fall to about minus 18 deg C this week.

In the Russian capital, some of the biggest snowfalls ever seen caused delays at some airports on Dec 4, with runways covered in thick snow.

At least 54 flights were delayed and five more were cancelled at Moscow’s three largest airports, the RIA news agency reported. NYTIMES, REUTERS