doctor15

I read that with due to terrorism threats, Germany has set up a no-fly zone in Munich.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4726863,00.html

Does anyone know if this is effecting flights in/out of MUC at all? I am heading there later this week and was wondering if I should expect problems or delays.

mamb0

Nope, as commercial airtraffic has always been routed around Munich.

Jasper2009

I also read an article about the restrictions in today´s newspaper and (just out of curiousity) checked the departure/arrival timetables on the MUC website a couple of times, everything seems to be going smoothly, hardly any delays.

Also MUC airport is nearly 30km / 18miles away from the Octoberfest, and planes generally don´t fly over the city center.

You can never be absolutely sure, but I generally wouldn´t expect any significant delays.

alex0683de

The no-fly zone over the Oktoberfest is no problem at all for MUC.

There are two reasons for this:

1.) the airport is quite far away from the city centre, so there is no need to overfly the city itself

2.) the airport is located north of the city, but the runways lie in an east-west axis, so the approaches/departures all stay well clear of the city

Really the only aircraft that would overfly the Oktoberfest are news or rescue helicopters and private pilots doing a bit of sightseeing. In terms of commercial traffic, it's a non-issue.

doctor15

Thanks for the reassuring replies!

Now I just have to deal with the security delays going into the festival itself!

mamb0

Well, no, you won't.

Unless you expect to be driven right to the entrances.

But if you come by foot like everyone else of the approx 500,000 visitors per day, you wont be held up.

So no worries.

Oh forgot one thing.. MUC airport in autumn and winter is home to heavy fog and airtraffic control then changes the staggering of approaching planes which cuts the possible landings per hour in half. You might have a serious delay because of that.

Bavarians. Built that frigging thing in a swamp and are surprised by fog in the winter!

D-AIPD

There is actually some, if very little traffic going over Munich itself. Depending on the runway (heading) in use, the flights going to ZRH and beyond may pass over downtown. Same for the approach.

But it's so little that it should be no problem to re-route the flight patterns.

Also: Those restrictions would likely be limited to a certain height. I'd think that this height is below the FL for commercial flights passing over Munich.

roesner

I was at Oktoberfest today during the day (Family Day) and the reporting about "getting into the fortress" is ridiculous imho.

Yes, there is presence of police and security
Yes, the roads directly around Theresienwiese are blocked off by police cars, vans and heavier trucks.
But walking from Hackerbruecke was business as usual. At the main entrance to Theresienwiese there was a bag check, but it was very friendly and professional.
Tables in the tents were readily available.
I left around 4pm and there were no lines to come into the Oktoberfest.
There is also more police presence in the trains and at various trainstations.

Now your mileage may vary on a Saturday evening, but for now the panic and the newspaper articles are overblown.

(disclaimer - I am not criticizing the measures, they are a sign of the times. I'm just providing a first hand report...(and criticizing Bild and such...))

Enjoy your visit!