Hesse: Winter weather causes delayed departures

Frankfurt/Main/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - Because of the icy weather, around two dozen aircraft were still allowed to take off at Frankfurt Airport late Wednesday evening, despite the ban on night flights. The reason for this was the de-icing of aircraft, as announced by the Hessian Ministry of Economic Affairs on Thursday. The delayed flights were allowed to take off between 11 p.m. and midnight by special permit, although there is usually a night flight ban in Frankfurt between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. On another flight, the luggage of a passenger who did not show up had to be unloaded to be on the safe side. In addition, seven flights were allowed to land late until shortly before midnight, it said.