Germany's Frankfurt Airport canceled all flights early in the afternoon (local time) but later resumed operations with limited capacity, an airport spokesman said, adding that the situation remained uncertain.
People walk in the snow at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany January 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS
Oslo Airport has also reopened but said it faced major delays that left many passengers stranded.
Some 680 of the 1,047 scheduled arrivals and departures in Frankfurt were canceled earlier in the day. At Munich airport, 254 flights were canceled and a smaller airport in the southern city of Saarbruecken was completely shut down.
“This is an extremely rare case… there was so much snow that pilots could not see the lights on the ground so we suspended all incoming and outgoing flights,” said a spokesman for Norway’s national airport operator Avinor.
For passengers, flight cancellations mean stress and changed plans.
“I have been nothing but nervous since yesterday,” said passenger Klaus Ludwig Fess, standing in the departure lounge at Frankfurt airport. His first flight and his rebooked flight were cancelled. “I will now take the train to Berlin,” he said.
In Oslo, Bente Jensen, 66, couldn't even get to the airport to return to his native Denmark because trains from the city center were canceled.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn also warned of delays and cancellations due to the winter weather, and said it was limiting the maximum speed of its high-speed trains to 200 km/h as a precaution.
Deutsche Bahn said long-distance services from Stuttgart and Frankfurt to Paris were cancelled due to weather conditions in France. The French weather agency warned of icy roads (also known as black ice) in 25 regions and flooding in three others.
In Germany, the risk of black ice and heavy snowfall will continue through Thursday in affected areas. In Norway, trains have been stopped in some areas in the east of the country due to severe weather conditions, according to train operator Bane Nor.
Mai Van (according to Reuters)
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