Berlin airport closed until further notice as icy weather halts all take-offs and landings

Berlin airport will remain closed on Friday due to black ice, and it is not yet clear when flight operations will restart. German news agency DPA quoted an airport spokesperson as saying that weather conditions have made it impossible for planes to take off or land.

Flights were already disrupted on Thursday after snow and freezing rain hit the airport. Airlines were forced to delay or cancel departing flights. The airport said on its website, "Due to weather conditions, no take-offs or landings are currently possible."

The situation worsened in the evening as sheet ice spread across northeastern Germany. Airport authorities told AFP that all scheduled evening flights in Berlin, including departures and arrivals, were cancelled. A spokesperson said, "In principle, the airport has ceased operations" as of 7:30 pm (1830 GMT) because "it's a real ice rink".


Around 30 flights were due to depart after that time, while about 70 flights were scheduled to land. No departures have been possible since Thursday morning, and several landings were also cancelled. By late afternoon, "several dozen" flights had already been cancelled, another airport spokesperson told AFP, adding that exact numbers could not be confirmed due to the rapidly changing situation.

The German Weather Service (DWD) issued a red ice warning in the early evening for large parts of eastern Germany. The warning covered areas from southwestern Berlin to the Baltic Sea.

The cold snap led to several accidents and disruptions. On a highway near Potsdam, a series of crashes injured around 20 people on Thursday afternoon. In Berlin, icy conditions have also triggered a debate over whether salt should be used on roads, despite concerns about its environmental impact.

According to the DWD, January temperatures in Germany were significantly colder than the national average recorded over the past 30 years.