Because of the large NATO exercise “Air Defender 2023”, civilian air traffic could also get confused in the summer. Image: Bundeswehr / Francis Hildemann
Deutschland
03.05.2023, 13:1103.05.2023, 13:12
The days are getting warmer. June 21 is the official start of summer and many are planning their long-awaited vacation. However, if you want to travel by plane to the sea or to the mountains, you should probably avoid a month in particular when planning. Because: Exactly at the start of summer, it gets crowded and loud in the sky over Germany.
The largest air operations exercise in the history of NATO in German airspace is imminent, the Bundeswehr announced on its website. At the “Air Defender 2023” maneuver, 25 partners will practice “the joint responsiveness of their air forces in a crisis situation”.
In addition to Germany, the USA, France, Spain and Turkey are taking part in the air exercise.Image: imago / Björn Trotsky
Germany is the host nation of this exercise and the participating nations will mainly start operations from German locations – not without consequences for Germany’s civil airspace.
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Germany is the linchpin of the huge NATO air exercise
According to the Bundeswehr, missions start from four federal states. The three main hubs during “Air Defender 23” are Hohn in Schleswig-Holstein, Wunstorf in Lower Saxony and Lechfeld in Bavaria.
Up to 10,000 soldiers are to take part in the exercise. According to the Bundeswehr, 23 different aircraft types are among the 220 aircraft involved. 100 of these aircraft alone come from 35 US states and are sent to Europe.
US Air Force transport aircraft are parked at the US airbase in Ramstein.Image: dpa / Boris Roessler
According to the German Air Force itself, it is taking part in the exercise with 64 aircraft: 30 Eurofighters, 16 Tornados, five A400Ms and three A330 AARs for refueling as well as two LJ35s, two A-4s and four light support helicopters (LUH) are alternately flying over Germany. 145 to be seen.
On Twitter, the Air Force presents the “ambassador” for the huge exercise “since NATO was founded.”
So it will be tight in the sky and that could have consequences for those people who want to travel by plane from June 12th to 23rd.
Delays and flight cancellations are probably unavoidable
“Impairments to civil air traffic will probably not be avoidable,” replies a spokeswoman for the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL) to watson’s request. Nevertheless, the effects of the military exercise on the already highly polluted German airspace should be reduced.
The huge NATO air exercise could affect civilian air travel.Image: dpa / Boris Roessler
According to the current plans of NATO and the Air Force, parts of German airspace will be closed, explains the BDL.
The association then makes the following demand:
“In order to keep the disruption to passengers and companies as low as possible, the airlines and airports need very precise information from the federal government and German air traffic control as to when which airspace blocks will be closed and how flight management should then be organized.”
The responsible federal ministries and the German air traffic control (DFS) are said to have provided initial information on this. The German Air Force also assures on the homepage that it is “doing everything possible” to keep the burden of “Air Defender 23” on the population as low as possible.
Flights could also be canceled due to the “Air Defender 2023” maneuver.Image: dpa / Michael Kappeler
It says:
“Thus, the three air exercise rooms are only used by the military for two to four hours a day at different times and are not available to civil air traffic during this time window.”
The Air Force also works closely with the authorities responsible for flight safety, the airlines and civil airports.
This should “minimise as much as possible” the effects on civil air traffic. According to the Bundeswehr, the aim of the large-scale exercise is “to optimize and expand the cooperation between the participating nations and at the same time to show the strength of the alliance”.
