In today’s episode of “yes, airport curfews are actually enforced,” I present to you what happened on a recent Condor flight, which missed the airport’s curfew by seconds, leading to a flight diversion, and an unpleasant bus ride in the middle of the night. Thanks to aeroTELEGRAPH for flagging this story.
In this post:
Delayed Condor flight misses Frankfurt Airport curfew by seconds
On Friday, September 11, 2026, Condor flight DE1809 was scheduled to operate from Olbia (OLB) to Frankfurt (FRA). The flight was operated by an Airbus A320 with the registration code D-ASGE, and was scheduled to depart at 8:15PM and arrive at 10:15PM.
However, the flight was running way behind schedule, due to the inbound aircraft being delayed. The plane ended up taking off from Olbia at 10:39PM, over two hours behind schedule. This was definitely a race against the clock, since Frankfurt Airport has a curfew at 12AM, and after that, flights can’t land.
Looking at historical data, the 633-mile journey ordinarily has a flight time of anywhere from 1hr24min to 1hr41min. So as you can tell, taking off 1hr21min before the curfew sure is optimistic.
My guess is that the airline decided it made sense to transport passengers to Germany either way, even if it meant diverting to another airport, since it would be cheaper than canceling the flight altogether, having to cover hotel rooms for everyone, etc. (though with a diversion, EC261 compensation would have to be paid either way, just as a function of the timing).
Anyway, the plane actually made really good time. The plane was cleared to approach Frankfurt Airport’s runway 25C. The gear dropped, and the plane descended all the way down to 875 feet, and was a matter of seconds from landing… only to not be given landing clearance. Below was the plane’s position at 12AM.
As a result, the A320 had to divert to divert to Cologne (CGN), which is 85 miles away, and is one of the few major airports in Germany that allows 24/7 operations. The plane ultimately landed there around 25 minutes later, at 12:25AM.
Upon landing in Cologne, the airline sent passengers to Frankfurt by bus, a roughly two hour drive. So I imagine it was close to 4AM by the time passengers made it to their destination, given the need to collect bags, etc.
Should there be more flexibility with airport curfews?
When you see situations like this, you can’t help but wonder if curfews are actually serving their intended purpose. The intent of curfews is to avoid the noise of aircraft near airports, for the benefits of residents in the area.
You know what likely causes more noise than a plane landing at midnight? Well, a plane discontinuing its approach at a low altitude. So in the end, people in the area were subjected to more noise than they would’ve otherwise been, simply because that’s what the rules state. That says nothing of the increased emissions.
Logically, one would say that there should be a little flexibility… I mean, we’re talking about a matter of seconds here. But I also get that this is a slippery slope. If you are willing to extend things by a minute, what about a plane approaching a few seconds after that?
The other consideration with these curfew stories is that airlines are generally really pushing their luck in the first place. The plane took off from Olbia with the hopes of having a shorter flight time than this exact flight has ever had, best I can tell. The airline has some responsibility here. No matter where you draw the line, there are always going to be situations where flights just barely miss the curfew, and various parties aren’t happy about it.
Bottom line
A Condor Airbus A320 flying from Olbia to Frankfurt had to divert after it missed Frankfurt’s curfew by a matter of seconds. The plane already had its gear out and was at an altitude of under 1,000 feet, but wasn’t given landing clearance due to barely missing the deadline. This triggered a diversion to Cologne, so that passengers could then be put on buses to Frankfurt, leading to a very long night.
Is this super frustrating, and does it seem unreasonable? I mean, yes. But at the same time, I feel like no matter how much leeway you give, airlines will always try to push their luck.
What do you make of this Condor diversion?
Well, well, well... looks like those passengers are probably eligible for EU261 compensation and duty of care. In this case, looks like +3 hours late with that diversion and bus ride, travel distance under 1,500 km, so €250 per passenger. Condor can try to claim 'extraordinary circumstances,' but, the burden is on them to prove that, and it likely would fail as a defense to claims, because the delay was from their own scheduling issue,...
Well, well, well... looks like those passengers are probably eligible for EU261 compensation and duty of care. In this case, looks like +3 hours late with that diversion and bus ride, travel distance under 1,500 km, so €250 per passenger. Condor can try to claim 'extraordinary circumstances,' but, the burden is on them to prove that, and it likely would fail as a defense to claims, because the delay was from their own scheduling issue, not 'severe weather' or something out of their control. Hmm.