Condor A320 denied Frankfurt landing, diverted to Cologne

A Condor flight from Olbia, Sardinia, was denied permission to land at Frankfurt Airport and flew on to Cologne/Bonn instead. It arrived just before a night-flight curfew took effect, according to the airline and flight-tracking information.

Flight DE1809 was scheduled to leave Olbia at 20:15 local time but departed at 22:39 after a "technical error message," a Condor spokesperson said. That delay put the aircraft behind schedule for a curfew that bars most landings in Frankfurt after midnight, though delayed flights may still land until that hour. The flight between the Sardinian coastal city and Frankfurt takes about an hour and a half.

Tracking data showed the A320, registration D-ASGE and painted in a black-and-white Eintracht Frankfurt livery, was about 300 metres above ground and roughly seven kilometres from the runway at 23:59. The crew asked air traffic control for landing clearance and did not receive it. Condor said only that the landing fell "very narrowly" within the landing ban. The aircraft continued to Cologne/Bonn.

The outbound leg had already been disruptive for passengers, who spent part of their trip on an island enjoying sunny, dry summer weather, according to the account. The return on Friday morning, September 11, began with a postponed departure before the aircraft finally took off from Olbia in the late evening.