Overview
- Vienna Airport temporarily suspended operations and urged travelers not to come to the terminal as heavy snow and high winds reduced runway safety.
- Munich Airport reported about 100 cancellations on Thursday and roughly 50 on Friday, then said takeoffs and landings were running normally again by the afternoon.
- Roads and utilities in Austria were strained, with a hours-long closure on the Vienna ring motorway, power outages affecting about 30,000 households in Styria, and severe accidents including one fatality in Linz and a serious crash in the Ötztal.
- Munich’s winter service covers 5.6 million square meters with around 600 staff and 184 specialist vehicles, typically clearing a 4‑kilometer runway in about 30 minutes and de‑icing an aircraft in about 11 minutes using glycol or urea.
- Airlines must offer rebooking or refunds and provide care after delays, and though snow is generally an extraordinary circumstance, a Federal Court of Justice ruling allows compensation if carriers fail to act properly, with Lufthansa also permitting ticket conversion to Deutsche Bahn on specified short‑haul routes for the day of issue and the next day.