At Vienna Airport

Thunderstorm Trapped Passengers on the Plane

Just after landing, everything came to a standstill: Due to a thunderstorm-related shutdown, passengers had to wait in the plane for about half an hour.(Bild: zVg)

The severe storms that swept through Vienna and Lower Austria on Friday didn’t just cause flooded streets and traffic gridlock. At Vienna Airport, too, the thunderstorm threw a wrench in the works—operations had to be temporarily suspended for safety reasons.

Passengers on a flight from Zadar were particularly hard hit. The plane had already landed safely in Vienna, but just at that moment, a thunderstorm cell passed over the airport. Instead of looking forward to reuniting with their loved ones, the travelers had to remain on the plane. Disembarking was not possible.

Internationally mandated safety measure 
The reason: Between approximately 5:30 and 6:00 p.m., a so-called “ ” shutdown was declared at the airport. This is an internationally mandated safety measure. If a thunderstorm cell is within a five-kilometer radius of the airport, all operations on the tarmac are halted. Neither passengers nor employees are allowed to remain there in order to protect them from the danger of a lightning strike.

This also means: no disembarking, no unloading of luggage, and no aircraft handling. Peter Kleemann, spokesperson for Vienna Airport, confirmed the weather-related shutdown to the “Krone”: “Due to thunderstorms forming near the airport, we had to temporarily restrict operations for safety reasons.”

Operations were able to resume fully after only about 20 to 30 minutes.

Peter Kleemann, Pressesprecher der Flughafen Wien AG

The good news: “Operations were able to resume fully after about 20 to 30 minutes,” said Kleemann.

Passengers on the flight from Zadar were also finally able to leave the plane and continue their journey.