Off on vacation – but before that stress from queuing at the airport, stuck in traffic jams on the motorway or in the rush of trains? At least at the airports, the situation could relax a bit.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – With full trains and airports and traffic jams on the motorways, the second wave of holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia will start on Friday. While according to the ADAC it could be even more crowded on the motorways than on the first holiday weekend, a slight relaxation is possible at the large airports in Düsseldorf and Cologne: the number of passengers on Saturday and Sunday at both airports should be slightly below those of the first holiday weekend. Rail traffic is expected to be particularly crowded on Friday, when commuters and holidaymakers meet on the trains, as a railway spokesman said.
On the first NRW holiday weekend, the heavy rush and a computer malfunction in the baggage handling system at Düsseldorf Airport caused chaotic conditions at times. Even the Düsseldorf airport fire brigade spontaneously helped out with the luggage. According to the company, 65,000 passengers flew on Saturday (June 25) and 67,500 on Sunday. This weekend, however, the number of passengers is expected to be somewhat lower at 57,000 on Saturday (July 1st) and 60,000 on Sunday.
“Fewer people naturally takes the pressure off, but temporary peaks are still possible,” said a Düsseldorf airport spokesman. Cologne Bonn Airport expects 110,000 passengers from Friday to Sunday. The numbers are “slightly lower” than on the first weekend, said an airport spokesman.
For road traffic, the ADAC expects an even higher load in North Rhine-Westphalia than on the first weekend of the holiday – partly because the summer holidays also begin in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on the first weekend in July. It should be particularly crowded on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon, as the automobile club announced at the beginning of the week.
The highest potential for congestion is at the weekend on the routes towards the North and Baltic Sea coasts and on the way to the south. Drivers would have to be patient, especially in the greater Cologne area and in the entire Ruhr area. The A4 will be completely closed in the direction of Aachen from the Heumar motorway junction to the Gremberg motorway junction from Friday (July 1st) at 9 p.m. to Monday (July 4th) at 5 a.m., according to Autobahn GmbH. “All in all, this travel summer should be as congested as before the corona pandemic,” predicts the ADAC.
