2023-06-11 19:37:07
From the political establishment it has been assured that the impossible will be done so that the impact of the two weeks of life of the Air Defender 23 maneuvers is as little as possible in the airspace of Germany and specifically in the commercial flights. They will be the largest air maneuvers in the history of NATO, he proudly reminded Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. And the presence of 250 combat or transport aircraft will force to modify routesadmitted the head of Transport, Volker Wissing.
does not have cancellationsor at least not in a massive way, adds the minister in whose powers falls the air Transport. But behind that sentence there is a lot inconcretionperhaps because it cannot be otherwise.
The operation of the maneuvers has been coordinated between the Air Force American and the air force german. That is, the air forces of both countries. In the preparations, issues such as noise pollution have been taken into account, but also the rights of passengers, in case their flight is affected.
There are four German bases that will centralize exercises in which they participate 10,000 soldiers from 25 countries: Jagel/Hohn, in the ‘land’ of Schleswig Holstein, on the border with Denmark; Wunstorf, with Lower Saxony, in central Germany; Lechfeld in Bavaria, in the south of the country, and Spangdahlen in the Rhineland Palatinate, next to France. They are joined by Volkel, in the Netherlands, and Caslav, in the Czech Republic. That is, the heart of Europe.
Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg
Apart from the political interest of the operation, with the Ukraine conflict in the backgroundattention is focused on the air corridors that cross Germany. The good news is that there will be no maneuvers on the weekend. The more complex will be the situation in Work dayssince part of the airspace of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, to the south, will be “reserved” for fighters between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. As regards the northern corridor, the maneuvers will focus between 4 and 8 pm. And, already in the east, towards the Baltic, it is between 10 and 14 hours. In these time slots, commercial airlines must divert their flights. It is a priority, according to Defense, to avoid coincidences between commercial and military devices.
Commercial flights continue without having reached pre-pandemic levels, which alleviates the logistical challenge. German airlines plan to offer some 9.6 million seats on domestic flights between June and November, which despite being 13% more than in the same period of 2022 is still 40% less than in 2019, according to figures from the German Air Transport Federation (BDL). International flights to or from Germany are still at 83% of pre-pandemic levels.
Even so, the European authority Eurocontrol estimates that about 800 daily commercial flights will have to be diverted from their usual route, according to the German economic newspaper ‘Handelsblatt’. In terms of accumulated delays, you could reach a total of 50,000 minutes in one day.
In the event of cancellations that the political establishment wants to avoid at all costs, the same rules apply to passengers rights to be offered an alternative ticket or refund. That is to say, there are no exceptions even if the origin is military maneuvers, points out “Handelsblatt”, which refers to the “Flightright” portal.
The airline remains subject to its obligations towards the passenger, whether it is offering acceptable alternatives or relocation, as well as accommodation in the event that they must spend the night and continue traveling the next day. However, it is unlikely that you will be compensated for any other costs or inconveniences that result. The cancellation of a flight due to “extraordinary circumstances”, such as NATO maneuvers, have little chance of success, warns that portal.
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