Frankfurt Airport Cancels Half Its Flights Because of Snow and Ice

Heavy snow and freezing rain grounded hundreds of flights in Germany on Wednesday, including at Frankfurt Airport, one of Europe’s busiest, where half of the scheduled flights were canceled.

At Frankfurt Airport, about 500 of the 1,030 scheduled flights were canceled because of the weather on Wednesday, when 115,000 passengers had been expected, the airport said in a statement.

The weather-related disruptions would continue on Thursday, the airport said, advising passengers to check their flight status before traveling to the airport.

There were flight cancellations across Germany. Munich Airport grounded about 150 flights on Wednesday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. Saarbrücken Airport, a small international airport on the country’s western border, suspended operations entirely, its website said.

Germany’s weather service issued a black ice warning in much of the southern half of the country for Wednesday and Thursday because of snowfall, freezing rain and low temperatures. A heavy snow warning was in effect in some central regions.

Winter weather also disrupted some rail service. Germany’s national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, said in a statement that delays and cancellations were expected on Wednesday. The maximum speed of its high-speed ICE trains was limited to 200 kilometers per hour from the typical 300, which could cause further disruptions, the operator said.

Dozens of school districts in Bavaria also canceled classes or switched to remote learning on Wednesday, according to the state’s Culture Ministry.