The German airport Cologne/Bonn expects to have around 560.000 passengers during the state of North Rhine-Westphalia's autumn break. The “peak” is already expected this weekend.

On Friday (September 30.9th) the airport welcomes 38.000 passengers, on the first weekend there are a total of 108.000 from Friday to Sunday. Passenger airlines have registered a total of around 4.000 take-offs and landings for the holiday period, with a peak of 260 flights (departures and arrivals) per day. The most popular holiday destinations are Turkey, Spain and Italy. Due to the higher number of passengers during the holidays, guests should plan enough time and come to the airport well prepared.

“We are pleased that the positive upward trend is continuing in the autumn holidays. Together with all partners and service providers, we have prepared as well as possible for the holidays to give our guests a good start to the holiday. However, we also know that the still tense personnel situation in air traffic and at the service providers involved entails operational challenges," says Thilo Schmid, CEO of Flughafen Köln/Bonn GmbH. During the holidays, delays and longer waiting times can therefore occur, especially at peak times. "Together with all process partners at the airport, we work hand in hand to control the processes in the best possible way," says Schmid.

During particularly popular flight times such as Friday and Saturday, there may be waiting times at stations such as check-in or security control. The Federal Police, which is responsible for passenger checks, has taken measures and is now using a second service provider for the checks. Experience has shown that during peak traffic times, the security check can take longer if there are higher passenger numbers and possible bottlenecks on the part of the security service provider.