This seems like an exceedingly poorly handled situation, especially when you consider that this happened at a hub (thanks to tv for flagging this)…
In this post:
Lufthansa cancels flight, but won’t let passengers off plane
This incident happened on Thursday, February 19, 2026, and involves Lufthansa flight LH2446, with scheduled service from Munich (MUC) to Copenhagen (CPH). The short 504-mile flight was operated by an Airbus A320neo, and was supposed to depart at 9:30PM and arrive at 11:05PM, but that’s not how things played out.
According to reports from passengers, they ended up being stranded on the plane overnight, after the flight was canceled, but there were no buses to transport passengers back to the terminal.
The flight had a rolling delay, but passengers were still driven to the plane, which was departing from a remote stand. Once onboard the plane, the rolling delay continued. After some amount of time — it’s not clear exactly with what timeframe — the flight had to be canceled. The flight status page on Lufthansa’s website shows the flight as having a delayed 11:56PM “departure,” but of course the plane never actually went anywhere.
Okay, that sucks, but it happens. You’d think passengers would then be transported back to the terminal, right? Well, not so fast. Every 30 minutes or so, the crew provided updates about how they were trying to get buses to pick up passengers and bring them back to the terminal, but that just didn’t prove to be so easy.
At around 2AM, the passengers were reportedly informed by the crew that the airport was closed, and all of the bus drivers had gone home for the night, so passengers wouldn’t be allowed to leave the plane, and would have to sleep onboard for the rest of the night.
Keep in mind this is a regional configured aircraft, with no blankets or pillows, tight pitch, and a very limited supply of food and drinks onboard. It’s not clear when exactly passengers were finally allowed off the plane, other than that it was well after 2AM, and in the “early morning hours.”
At some point early in the morning, passengers were driven to the terminal, and were rebooked on other flights to Copenhagen. The first set of passengers were booked on the 6:40AM flight, which was delayed by roughly an hour.
How could something like this happen at a hub airport?
Admittedly airline and airport operations are incredibly complex, and the public has a tendency to oversimplify things. But this particular situation is mind boggling on so many levels:
- Munich Airport is one of Lufthansa’s two mega hubs, so it’s not like Lufthansa doesn’t have access to resources at the airport
- Munich Airport has a strict curfew at 12AM, so I don’t understand how this stretched on for hours after that, when you’d think it would be clear that the plane isn’t going anywhere
- An airport that accommodates 40+ million passengers per year doesn’t have a system in place to get a bus driver to move passengers from a stranded plane?
- Was there not even a vacant gate the plane could be taxied to by the pilots, to make deplaning possible?
There must have been some sort of a colossal communication screw-up here, or something, for things to go this wrong.
Bottom line
Some Lufthansa passengers traveling from Munich to Copenhagen were in for a very unpleasant surprise, when they spent the night onboard the plane without actually going anywhere.
The flight had a rolling delay, and it was ultimately canceled. However, by the time it was canceled, the airline could reportedly no longer arrange a bus to transport passengers back to the terminal. So passengers had to spend the night on the plane, with transportation only being arranged in the early hours of the morning.
I find it absolutely shocking that something like this could happen at an airport the size of Munich, especially when the airline involved is the dominant airline there.
What do you make of this Lufthansa overnight saga?
As far as the article itself is concerned, sounds like a case of why ruin a story with the facts?
In total, 5 flights were affected with more than 500 passengers
LH 768 München-Singapur
LH 2446 München-Kopenhagen
LH 1646 München-Danzig
EN 8016 München-Graz (durchgeführt von Air Dolomiti)
EN 8206 München-Venedig (durchgeführt von Air Dolomti)
Your article was plagiarized https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=122177422610430500&set=a.122165004452430500
Were the passengers Jews? Munich and all that...
What a stupid comment!
What a poorly written „article“.
Yes this sucked and is unacceptable, but you left out the reason for it all; heavy heavy snow fall. They even extended airport operations by an hour trying to get everyone out but the snow fall intensified and planes couldn’t take off. Parking positions at the terminals were all full and not enough buses were available. Should have been more done? Clearly but you make it sound like it...
What a poorly written „article“.
Yes this sucked and is unacceptable, but you left out the reason for it all; heavy heavy snow fall. They even extended airport operations by an hour trying to get everyone out but the snow fall intensified and planes couldn’t take off. Parking positions at the terminals were all full and not enough buses were available. Should have been more done? Clearly but you make it sound like it was a result of a random law but it was clearly weather related.
If you would spend a little bit more time you’d also know that it wasn’t just one airplane.
https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/500-passengers-stuck-in-airplanes-at-night-due-to-snow-3108931.html
https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/muenchen-und-wien-flugausfaelle-nach-starkem-schneefall-a-08038b0c-4f96-4210-b7e1-9817f047cf03
Hello George, this article was written 20 hours ago. The "Bluewin.ch" article was written less that 4 hours ago. "T-Online" wrote an article earlier today mentioning OMAAT as a source. It is just now that this incident is going viral now...possibly because of the OMAAT article in the first place. Therefore, I wouldn't say that this article is poorly written. It may need an update, though.
Itr seems like the spokesperson from Munich airport was...
Hello George, this article was written 20 hours ago. The "Bluewin.ch" article was written less that 4 hours ago. "T-Online" wrote an article earlier today mentioning OMAAT as a source. It is just now that this incident is going viral now...possibly because of the OMAAT article in the first place. Therefore, I wouldn't say that this article is poorly written. It may need an update, though.
Itr seems like the spokesperson from Munich airport was caught off-guard and couldn't be reached and didnt really know what was going on.
One point is missing in Ben’s article and most comments: The heaviest snowfall in years, up to 10 inches of heavy wet snow in a very short period of time of that evening. The airport has even lifted the night flight ban. Apparently, communication and staffing were not ideal, but there situation may have ended up the same way in many airports globally.
My opinion is that MUC also has the "Skytrax 5*" syndrome: They pretend to be superb but often fail:
2023: Munich Airport was completely closed in December 2023 for 4 days because of heavy snow fall.
2024: For weeks, passengers had to wait hours to pass the security and hours until bags were delivered due to insufficient staff planning.
2018: 200 flights cancelled because a woman entered the airport without proper screening (fun...
My opinion is that MUC also has the "Skytrax 5*" syndrome: They pretend to be superb but often fail:
2023: Munich Airport was completely closed in December 2023 for 4 days because of heavy snow fall.
2024: For weeks, passengers had to wait hours to pass the security and hours until bags were delivered due to insufficient staff planning.
2018: 200 flights cancelled because a woman entered the airport without proper screening (fun fact: The airport closed after she already departed).
Sorry Sebastian that's completely unacceptable. You know there are planes outside, fully loaded, and you're leaving both passengers and crew in them overnight? Absolutely unacceptable, there's no excuse or justification for that. Not even the snowfall. If I have to cancel the flight, which is understandable, I have to take care of the passengers and crew.
These passengers are entitled to compensation:
"Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers on flights departing from the EU, or arriving in the EU with an EU carrier, are entitled to up to €600 in compensation for delays of 3+ hours at the final destination, unless caused by "extraordinary circumstances". Compensation amounts are based on distance (€250–€600).
Key Compensation and Rights (EU261)
Threshold: You are generally entitled to compensation if you arrive at your...
These passengers are entitled to compensation:
"Under EU Regulation 261/2004, passengers on flights departing from the EU, or arriving in the EU with an EU carrier, are entitled to up to €600 in compensation for delays of 3+ hours at the final destination, unless caused by "extraordinary circumstances". Compensation amounts are based on distance (€250–€600).
Key Compensation and Rights (EU261)
Threshold: You are generally entitled to compensation if you arrive at your final destination 3 or more hours late.
Compensation Amounts:
€250: Short-distance flights (under 1,500 km).
€400: Medium-distance flights (1,500–3,500 km, or >1,500 km within the EU).
€600: Long-distance flights (>3,500 km).
Right to Care: For delays of 2+ hours (short haul) or 3-4+ hours (longer flights), airlines must provide food, drink, communication (emails/calls), and hotel accommodation if necessary.
Exceptions: Airlines are not required to pay compensation if the delay is caused by "extraordinary circumstances" (e.g., severe weather, air traffic control strikes, security risks). However, technical faults or "wildcat" staff strikes usually do not qualify as extraordinary.
Refund/Re-routing: If the delay exceeds 5 hours, you have the right to cancel your flight and receive a full refund or be re-routed to your destination at the earliest opportunity.
Note: The Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies to all flights departing from an EU airport (on any airline) or arriving in the EU from a non-EU country on an EU-based carrier.
They made it very difficult for us to receive this compensation, but worth a shot.
It gets even better: Singapore, Gdansk, Venice and Graz were also affected. Some 500 passengers in total had to spent their night on the tarmac.
Once more a Proof that Munich is a provincial airport (with a 5 Star Skytrax Rating).
The nowadays Germany probably is the only civilised country where something like this can happen!
I hope these affected passengers are properly compensated in the end. If this was in the US, we’d have no recourse, other than a partial refund or rebooking, which is super lame. Like, even the several hundred dollars of EU261 payout might not be enough here to make this right. Luftkafka, indeed.
There are tarmac rules in the USA. In October 2024 I was aboard an AA flight MIA-JFK which boarded, ran into a ground hold due to JFK storm conditions. We spent 2:45 minutes on board, every seat full. We were eventually brought back to the gate to deplane and "wait for instructions". There was no agent to give instructions, after 5 minutes we reboarded. This entire exercise was to avoid tarmac delay issues.
PS:...
There are tarmac rules in the USA. In October 2024 I was aboard an AA flight MIA-JFK which boarded, ran into a ground hold due to JFK storm conditions. We spent 2:45 minutes on board, every seat full. We were eventually brought back to the gate to deplane and "wait for instructions". There was no agent to give instructions, after 5 minutes we reboarded. This entire exercise was to avoid tarmac delay issues.
PS: the flight was a bit rough, landing was smooth as butter and then there was no crew to pull the plane to a gate, lol.
Its now everywhere in the news in Germany. And the story is much bigger. It was not only this flight but a total of 5 flights including long distance flight to Singapore. Lufthansa issued a statement, that they dont see any wrongdoing from theirside and emphasis that all was about weather. That means they wont pay any compensation if you not go to court against them. Lufthansa is a shame for Germany.
I am not sure if Lufthansa is a shame for Germany or if Lufthansa just represents Germany very well. There still is a lot of things to love about Germany, but German Infrastructure is on the decline since years now.
Is there a confirmation if this is the real story? No newspaper in Munich reported it and as there is a strict midnight curfew they would have known it by the and not 2 am. What might be true that there are no buses / suburban train from the airport or more accurately only once per hour after midnight.
Everything else would not be realistic at EDDM.
Curfew was extended. Newspapers now caught up on the story.
Sounds like some ruthless German inefficiency and excessive rule following (without anyone taking an extra effort) to me.
Ben is shocked means a very good news.!
How could this happen at a hub? Well it is lufthansa...that's all you need to say. Probably tried to save a few pennies. And I am curious how much compensation lh is willing to offer... Can't simply be eu261 compensation for this but I bet lh will count its pennies again...
We are not happy until you are sobbing, in pain from the industry leading slimline seats, lined up in front of the last functional lav.
If there is an alternative airline…take it. This one needs to work on the basics.
Carsten SpohrED!
The behavior of the airport and the airline indicates a criminal offense, namely false imprisonment of passengers. Hopefully, the competent authorities will take action on their own initiative.
Lufthansa has really become a terrible airline.
Lufthansa has done this rolling delay to my long distance as well. It is all about money.
Welcome to Germany in 2026. A stumbling shell of a country once renowned for efficiency and precision, and now incapable of using logic and common sense to resolve even the simplest situations, like this one. Infrastructure and social services are deteriorating, formerly prosperous city centers are now full of vacant storefronts and sleeping vagrants, and much of the country feels seedy and run-down in a way that would have been unimaginable 20 or 25 years...
Welcome to Germany in 2026. A stumbling shell of a country once renowned for efficiency and precision, and now incapable of using logic and common sense to resolve even the simplest situations, like this one. Infrastructure and social services are deteriorating, formerly prosperous city centers are now full of vacant storefronts and sleeping vagrants, and much of the country feels seedy and run-down in a way that would have been unimaginable 20 or 25 years ago. The country just can't seem to get its act together.
Happened to me at LIS with Iberia.
We were underway to Santiago de chile but had a medical emergency and diverted.
I looked up the curfew times while in the air and asked the crew when we will get off since they would time out. They laughed.
We were kept on the plane until about 6 am, at some point the crew refused to hand out water to elderly passengers.
They...
Happened to me at LIS with Iberia.
We were underway to Santiago de chile but had a medical emergency and diverted.
I looked up the curfew times while in the air and asked the crew when we will get off since they would time out. They laughed.
We were kept on the plane until about 6 am, at some point the crew refused to hand out water to elderly passengers.
They also postponed the bag delivery so passengers would not ask for hotels until the replacement flight.
When I disembarked the plane one of the crew told me “it’s your fault” since I exactly predicted we could not leave due to the curfew and time out.
Great…German website T-Online now published an article about the incident…using OMAAT as a source.
This would be my dream, but in first class
LH768 also was stuck…but they don’t have a first class
I can't believe that a large hub like MUC doesn't have skeleton staff that could deboard one plane 24/7. That's just ridiculous. Even larger regional airports have this for any sort of emergencies/diversions etc.
Zee rules are zee rules, Mein Herr.
Off topic Lucky, but…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/22/homeland-security-suspends-tsa-precheck-global-entry-airport-security-programs
What will be telling is Lufthansa's response to this. Obviously this is horrific and capable management would have had a plan in place for such an incident but that didn't happen. If Lufthansa offers well above required compensation to all passengers then it will illustrate that the company recognizes that they screwed up and actually cares. Unfortunately, that's not even close to what Lufthansa tends to do. The airline has a strong tendency to disregard...
What will be telling is Lufthansa's response to this. Obviously this is horrific and capable management would have had a plan in place for such an incident but that didn't happen. If Lufthansa offers well above required compensation to all passengers then it will illustrate that the company recognizes that they screwed up and actually cares. Unfortunately, that's not even close to what Lufthansa tends to do. The airline has a strong tendency to disregard passenger issues when those become inconvenient and is pretty virulent about fighting compensation claims even in situations where compensation is clearly required. It'll be interesting to see how this is handled.
I forwarded your Article to BILD (tabloid), hoping that they find out more (and that this topic is somewhat escalated).
Couldn’t like an apron car or something take 3-4 passengers at a time to the terminal?
Of course they are entitled to compensation. Each is entitled to €250 ($295) for a delay of at least 3 hours. They can also claim for any meals and HOTAC needed prior their rebooked flights.
That’s the minimum, LH could be more.
If it was weather or outside the airlines control (likely what they would claim) - no compensation is payable. And coincidentally for Lufthansa they can’t incur any hotel and meal costs when locked on a plane and provided with a rebooked flight when they’re let off, so no cost are repayable either.
Several years ago, my United flight from IAD arrived at MUC and the ramp would not connect to the airplane door. So we had to leave the plane with stairs and had to be take to the terminal by bus. I was on a connecting itinerary along with a bunch of passengers and we had to be taken to the other terminal by bus. We were put in a small room to wait for a...
Several years ago, my United flight from IAD arrived at MUC and the ramp would not connect to the airplane door. So we had to leave the plane with stairs and had to be take to the terminal by bus. I was on a connecting itinerary along with a bunch of passengers and we had to be taken to the other terminal by bus. We were put in a small room to wait for a bus. At least twenty buses came in and went. German officials were walking around, talking on the phone, but could not manage to fetch a bus to take 20 or so passengers to the other terminal. We waited close to 45 minutes. I finally gave up and passed through passport control to officially enter Germany, walked across the plaza to the other terminal and then exited Germany five minutes after I entered. They were not only incompetent but also rude to us for asking about an update about the whereabouts of the bus.
In Germany working hours are tightly regulated by law and collective working agreements. It's likely the airport bus drivers maxed their hours that night and there weren't enough drivers working. Strict adherence to those laws and agreements take priority over health and safety, so there is no room to be flexible (drive one more bus trip) even in an extraordinary situation.
This is wrong.
See § 14 ArbzG.
In extraordinary cases, it is allowed to exceed the maximum work hours.
It shouldn't matter, there should be a night shift for emergencies. Most airports have this even if they're close at night. Anything can happen and the curfew is quite short (keep in mind that people don't finish their shift right when the airport closes and vice versa). What if they had an emergency landing in the middle of the night?
My regional airport with 6 flights a day has skeleton staff available 24/7, I can't believe that MUC doesn't.
The good news is that Carson slept well that night, and nobody woke him up to tell him that there was a planeload of passengers stranded on an aircraft overnight at their Munich Fortress hub.
Although I appreciate OMAAT's work, I have to criticise that some very important facts are missing here:
- Munich airport was closed due to heavy snowfall
- more than 60 flights that night had to be cancelled, even after being off-blocks, due to night curfew after deicing
- snow removal was hardly possible, now imagine getting those electric stairs to the aircraft through the snow banks (same with jetways, parking positions could...
Although I appreciate OMAAT's work, I have to criticise that some very important facts are missing here:
- Munich airport was closed due to heavy snowfall
- more than 60 flights that night had to be cancelled, even after being off-blocks, due to night curfew after deicing
- snow removal was hardly possible, now imagine getting those electric stairs to the aircraft through the snow banks (same with jetways, parking positions could not be cleared)
- It was not Lufthansa that did not let the passengers leave the aircraft, they did all they could. The airport and its handling company failed.
Ultimately LH is responsible for failures of their subcontractors. Period.
Years ago I landed at EWR with my family and checked bags. While other flights were getting their bags, our flight had no bags after one hour. When I spoke up the LH rep threatened me with arrest. I went straight to authorities and asked if they would arrest me for asking for bags after one hour. They clearly had no interest in arresting...
Ultimately LH is responsible for failures of their subcontractors. Period.
Years ago I landed at EWR with my family and checked bags. While other flights were getting their bags, our flight had no bags after one hour. When I spoke up the LH rep threatened me with arrest. I went straight to authorities and asked if they would arrest me for asking for bags after one hour. They clearly had no interest in arresting me, actually cheered me on.
After 80 minutes the station manager arrived and explained they were switching their baggage handling contract and this was the payback.
Ultimately, zero apologies from LH and zero anything.
How many passengers? 40 is comfortable, 140 is not.
Having flown on Lufthansa, this checks out. That airline is among the worst in the world these days. They mess up everything
Someone should have called emergency services for fire rescue.
I would have opened an exit and they would have found some airport staff to help I bet.
Sounds like the incident at Sapporo airport in late January.
Unusually heavy snow basically closed the city itself - no trains could get in or out of the airport. Taxis very limited, most buses not able to get to the city.
Yet widebodies kept coming in from Tokyo with passengers arriving and no viable way out of the airport. 7,000 people slept there that night but everything was utter calm resignation because, Japan.
Being trapped in a domestic A320 overnight and being tapped in an airport overnight are two different things. One is inhumane. The other just sucks.
That's beyond believable. There has to be more to this. If not, my God, and LH has become truly a third world airline.
Come on donot insult third world airline
What’s the penalty for opening the emergency slide?
Pretty sure they could disarm the door so the slide didn't go off. Once door was open they would probably notify police etc and guarantee they would bring a set of air stairs over or fins some airport staff real quick. Without stairs Taller/athletic people could probably safely hang and drop to the tarmac without issues but would be risky.
Surprised there is not law against that in Germany/EU. Doesn't that exist in the US after that JetBlue incident years ago?
So the pilots slept in the cockpit and the FA's slept in their jump seats???
I would assume they slept on the floor in the galleys
Would that be false imprisonment? At least in the US, barring some weather something that made it physically impossible to deplane I imagine there would probably be a lawsuit with a pretty decent settlement if an airline/airport did this.
From the USA,where they detain innocent people minors and infants in concentration camps, with no facilities and nutrition, staying in an aircraft a few hours isn’t a breach of the Geneva conventions.
I’m guessing the cabin crew had to stay onboard the whole night as well?
In no circumstance is it acceptable to tell passengers to just sleep on the plane at a parked gate, even if remote. They should all get compensation - and more than a few miles.
What happened to the pilots and flight attendants?
They continued their duties until passengers disembarked.
How can pilots continue their duty of flying a plane that’s parked at a gate? What duties were they continuing? Engines weren’t running, plane wasn’t taxiing, aircraft wasn’t flying?!? You’re just as clueless as the leadership at LH!
Yeah even I, who am usually very casual about these things, would likely have tried to open a door at some point in the middle of the night. Or at a minimum call the police or feign a medical emergency.
‘You would not. The ones the threatens: oh I’d do this and that’ are the ones that are chicken and do nothing
Just like the ones who post bullish comments like yours NB, when you’re hidden behind a screen, are the most sheepish in real life. Baaaaaahhh
No big deal if the passengers merely go with the flow , and stop complaining .
How Germany become a big mess. Sad.
You summarized it!
@alert
Lufthansa should hire you to work in their PR department as your callous responses aligns perfectly with their unacceptable treatment of these passengers.