Travelers trapped overnight on plane after airport closes with them on runway

Passengers on a Lufthansa flight were trapped overnight on a plane after it landed at Munich airport, after it was cancelled and airport staff had headed home for the night. 

Being on a delayed flight can cause serious headaches at the best of times. If you’ve got a connection to make, you may end up missing it, or you might even be charged for extra parking if you’re running super late. 

However, in the case of passengers on Lufthansa flight LH2446 from Munich to Copenhagen, things became an even bigger nightmare than usual. 

The flight, which was heavily delayed, was eventually cancelled at midnight on February 20, almost three hours after it was supposed to depart. However, passengers were unable to deplane and return to the terminal because the airport had closed.

Lufthansa passengers “trapped” overnight on plane while on ground

According to One Mile At A Time, passengers ended up being stranded on the plane overnight with a “very limited supply of food and drinks.” There were also no pillows or blankets provided, given it wasn’t a long-haul flight. 

One passenger onboard, Søren Thieme, told Ekstra Bladet their family was “really frustrated” with the situation after being “trapped” on the plane.

“I am very disappointed with Lufthansa and the airport. They have chosen to just leave without pushing through and emptying these airplanes that are parked there. They can’t just go home from work. You can’t just leave people stranded. A flight can always be canceled,” Thieme said. “At one point, the thought came to me whether we would even come home this weekend.”

As per One Mile At A Time, passengers were not let off the plane until “the early hours” of the morning, but the exact time is unknown. 

Lufthansa issued an apology for the situation, blaming “heavy snowfall” around Munich for the delay and subsequent cancellation. 

“Lufthansa deeply regrets the inconvenience this has caused to the passengers,” they said, noting that affected passengers were booked onto new flights in the morning.