Germany’s aviation network is facing another day of disruption as a fresh wave of delays and cancellations ripples across the country’s biggest hubs. A total of 18 flights have been cancelled and more than 350 delayed, affecting passengers in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne and Stuttgart. Lufthansa bears the brunt of the cancellations, while United Airlines and a host of European carriers are grappling with knock-on delays that are complicating travel plans for both business and leisure travellers.
Another Difficult Day for German Air Travel
Flight disruption has become an unwelcome theme for travellers in and out of Germany, and today’s cancellations add to a mounting sense of instability. According to industry data cited by travel analysts, seven of the country’s key airports together recorded 356 delays and 18 cancellations in a single operating day, straining airport infrastructure and airline operations across the board. Frankfurt and Munich, Germany’s primary long-haul gateways, once again emerged as the most affected hubs, followed closely by Berlin Brandenburg, Dusseldorf and Hamburg.
The new wave of disruption comes against a backdrop of repeated operational shocks over the past year. From winter weather and staff shortages to air traffic control constraints and industrial unrest, Germany’s aviation system has had little respite. Travellers in 2025 and early 2026 have already navigated storm-related shutdowns, large-scale strikes and structural schedule cuts, particularly on domestic routes, with many now building contingency time into any itinerary involving a German hub.
For the country’s crucial business travel market, these repeated interruptions carry a heavy cost. Missed meetings, broken connections and rebooked itineraries are now frequent features of corporate travel reports, and travel managers are increasingly under pressure to justify sending teams through airports where disruption has become a recurring risk.
Where the Cancellations Hit Hardest
Today’s figures underline just how concentrated the turmoil is at Germany’s busiest hubs. Frankfurt Airport recorded 97 delays and 11 cancellations, while Munich saw 57 delays and 7 cancellations. Combined, the two hubs account for the entire tally of 18 cancelled flights and more than 150 delays, making them the epicentre of the disruption across the German network. Berlin Brandenburg reported 73 delays, Dusseldorf 49 and Hamburg 33, with Cologne Bonn and Stuttgart adding a further 29 and 18 delays respectively.
What these numbers do not fully capture is the scale of the knock-on impact. Each cancellation reverberates through the network, affecting incoming aircraft rotations, crew duty hours and the viability of later departures. Delays of 30 to 90 minutes on early bank departures can quickly snowball into missed long-haul connections to North America, Asia and the Middle East. In Frankfurt and Munich, where tight connection windows have long been a selling point, this cascading effect is particularly acute.
For passengers, the experience on the ground is predictably fraught. Departure boards cycle through rolling delay announcements while airport staff try to triage queues at service counters. Travellers face the familiar dilemma of whether to wait out a delay at the gate in the hope of a late departure or push for rebooking onto a later service or an alternative route. Families, touring groups and business travellers alike are forced into rapid-fire decisions, often with incomplete information about how long the disruption will last.
Lufthansa, United and Other Airlines Under Pressure
Lufthansa once again finds itself at the centre of Germany’s travel turbulence. Of the 18 cancellations recorded today, 17 are attributed to Lufthansa across Frankfurt and Munich, underscoring the airline’s exposure at its home hubs. The German flag carrier is also contending with a significant number of delayed departures and arrivals, creating a challenging operational puzzle as aircraft and crews fall out of their planned rotations.
United Airlines, which relies heavily on Frankfurt and Munich for its transatlantic operations, is also caught up in the disruption. While United’s own cancellations are limited, delays on European feeder flights and slot restrictions at congested hubs are complicating its ability to run tightly timed long-haul schedules. With joint ventures and codeshares tying United closely to Lufthansa’s European network, problems on one side of the Atlantic quickly manifest on the other, particularly for travellers connecting between regional German airports and US gateways.
Other carriers are far from immune. Eurowings, Condor, Air Dolomiti, Pegasus, Finnair, Ryanair, easyJet, Swiss, Austrian and KLM are all reporting a mix of minor delays and schedule reshuffles as they navigate the same runway constraints, air traffic control slots and ground-handling bottlenecks. In many cases, airlines are choosing to protect longer or higher-yield routes while allowing shorter sectors to absorb the brunt of delays, a strategy that can leave domestic and regional travellers facing particularly long waits.
Weather, Staffing and Strikes: A Fragile System Exposed
Today’s turmoil does not exist in isolation. Over the winter season, German airports have endured a series of shocks that have exposed how finely balanced the aviation ecosystem has become. Earlier in January, a powerful winter storm paralysed much of the network, forcing dozens of cancellations and more than a thousand delays across Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg as ground crews struggled with snow, ice and gale-force winds. Separate cold snaps brought freezing rain and de-icing bottlenecks, leading to further disruptions and temporary halts to departures at key airports.
Weather is only part of the equation. Staff sickness, particularly related to seasonal flu and respiratory illnesses, has periodically thinned frontline teams in ground handling, security and technical operations. On some days, this has meant that even modest schedule pressures tipped airports into delay spirals, as too few staff were available to move aircraft, manage baggage and process passengers through checkpoints at the speed required.
Layered on top of these operational pressures is the spectre of industrial action. Over the past year, Germany has seen major strike days that shut down or severely curtailed operations at multiple airports, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers. More recently, strikes by Lufthansa pilots and cabin crew have triggered the cancellation of hundreds of flights in a single day, with departure boards at Frankfurt and Munich dominated by red “cancelled” notices. Even when today’s particular disruptions are not strike-related, they unfold against a wider narrative in which labour relations, pay disputes and cost-cutting measures have become central to the stability of the network.
Passenger Experience: Long Queues, Uncertain Timelines
For travellers on the ground, the statistics translate into a day of frayed nerves and anxious waiting. At Frankfurt, passengers are confronted with long lines at service counters as they seek rerouting options, meal vouchers or overnight accommodation. Airport staff attempt to manage expectations by directing travellers to digital channels and self-service tools, but many still prefer in-person assistance, particularly when dealing with complex itineraries involving multiple airlines or long-haul connections.
At Berlin Brandenburg, Dusseldorf and Hamburg, security checkpoints and boarding areas are noticeably more crowded than usual as delayed flights and rearranged departures cause passenger flows to bunch together. Families with small children and elderly travellers often struggle most, especially when departure times are repeatedly pushed back in small increments. The lack of clear end times for disruptions can make it difficult for passengers to make rational decisions about whether to leave the airport, rebook onto another day, or explore rail alternatives.
In Munich, one of Europe’s major transfer hubs, the impact is particularly painful for connecting passengers. Missed onward flights can mean extended layovers or unplanned overnight stays, and rebooking onto other airlines is not always possible when capacity is already tight. Travellers heading to secondary European cities or regional destinations may find that the next available seat is not until the following day, forcing unscheduled hotel stays and additional costs, even when airlines provide basic duty-of-care support.
What Travellers Can Do Right Now
For those travelling through Germany during this turbulent period, proactive planning is essential. Passengers are urged to monitor their flight status closely via airline apps and airport information services rather than relying on printed boarding passes or earlier confirmations. Many airlines, including Lufthansa and United, are issuing same-day travel waivers that allow passengers to rebook without additional change fees, particularly on routes where delays have been most severe.
On domestic sectors, rail remains a vital fallback option. Lufthansa and other carriers routinely offer the possibility to convert certain domestic tickets into rail vouchers on Deutsche Bahn when schedules unravel, a strategy that can significantly reduce stress for passengers comfortable with switching modes. For itineraries under 400 kilometres, high-speed trains often provide a competitive door-to-door journey time, especially when airport waiting and transfer times are taken into account.
Travellers with tight international connections should build in as much buffer time as possible or consider overnighting at hub cities rather than relying on last-flight-of-the-day connections. Those planning complex multi-leg journeys are increasingly advised to book through-tickets on a single airline or alliance rather than stitching together separate tickets, so that rebooking and protection in case of disruption are handled under a single reservation.
Implications for Germany as a Transit Hub
Repeated disruption days are beginning to raise strategic questions about Germany’s role as a reliable transit hub for Europe and beyond. Frankfurt and Munich have long marketed themselves as highly efficient connecting points, with relatively short minimum connection times and strong global coverage. Yet as schedule reliability erodes, some frequent travellers and corporate buyers are reassessing whether to route itineraries through alternative hubs in Switzerland, Austria or the Netherlands, where they perceive more consistent on-time performance.
For Lufthansa and its partners, this presents a longer-term reputational challenge. While individual days of turmoil can be attributed to extraordinary weather or one-off labour disputes, the cumulative impression is of a system under sustained strain. If business travellers begin to favour other hubs for critical long-haul connections, German airports risk losing not only passenger volumes but also the premium revenue streams that underpin many intercontinental routes.
Airport operators and airlines are responding with pledges to strengthen resilience, including investments in de-icing infrastructure, contingency staffing pools and improved coordination with air traffic control. Yet these measures will take time to deliver results, and passengers travelling in 2026 should expect that winter seasons and periods of labour tension will continue to carry elevated disruption risk.
Looking Ahead: A Call for Resilience and Clear Communication
In the immediate term, airlines and airports across Germany are focused on restoring stability to their schedules and clearing the backlog of disrupted passengers. Carriers are reallocating aircraft, drafting in reserve crews where possible and prioritising routes with the highest number of stranded travellers. Operational planners expect some residual delays to carry into the following day as aircraft and crew rotations are recalibrated, but the goal is to return to near-normal operations as quickly as conditions allow.
For travellers, the key lesson from today’s events is the importance of flexibility and information. Flexible tickets, travel insurance that explicitly covers delays and missed connections, and a willingness to consider alternative routings or rail segments can make the difference between a manageable disruption and a travel ordeal. Meanwhile, airlines and airports are under growing pressure to provide clearer, more timely information, not only about current delays but also about realistic recovery timelines.
As Germany navigates another season of aviation upheaval, the long-term competitiveness of its major hubs will depend on how effectively industry, labour groups and policymakers can work together to build a more resilient system. For now, travellers heading through Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and beyond would be wise to assume that turbulence on the ground is as likely as turbulence in the air, and to plan their journeys accordingly.