The summer holidays will begin on Friday in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous federal state of Germany. Airports recommend an early arrival to ensure that the flight to your holiday destination is as relaxed as possible. On the first holiday weekend, Eurowings will fly up to 270,000 passengers on around 2,300 flights to over 140 different destinations into their holiday. Surprisingly, the busiest day will not be Saturday, but Sunday with 92,000 expected passengers. The top destination for holidaymakers in Europe is Mallorca, which Eurowings flies to directly from 21 European airports. The most popular long-haul destinations include Bangkok, New York and Miami.

In terms of personnel, Eurowings is well prepared for the upcoming travel wave. Eurowings has strengthened its staff at airports with expected high travel volumes such as Düsseldorf and Cologne and has provided sufficient resources for ground handling. Eurowings is also providing additional aircraft and crews as a reserve. At its largest and busiest airport, Düsseldorf, passengers can check in at Eurowings 30 minutes earlier. In addition, the airline has increased its capacity for late night check-in.

"We are well prepared to fly our guests punctually and reliably to their holiday destinations," says Michael Knitter, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Eurowings. "With our measures, we are doing everything we can to cushion the effects of external factors as far as possible and to compensate for the deficits of our system partners". Nevertheless, the summer will be challenging due to the continuing capacity bottlenecks in air navigation services in European airspace.

Comprehensive package of measures for more punctuality shows effect

In the first half of 2019, Eurowings regularly ranked among the most punctual and reliable airlines in Europe. This is where the comprehensive package of measures for greater punctuality and stability in flight operations, which the airline launched at the end of 2018 and which scrutinized all operational processes on the ground and in the air, pays off. Eurowings has significantly increased the number of reserve aircraft. The fact that aircraft can be planned more flexibly between take-off waves also contributes to stabilization. In addition, Eurowings has extended flight and ground times in order to add more buffers to flight schedules and to absorb delays better. By extending the block times the time between the aircraft's taxiing from take-off to its arrival at its destination Eurowings is not only able to absorb delays better, but can also significantly reduce the consequences of delays and avoid cancellations. Arrival punctuality has thus improved significantly compared to the previous year. As a further measure, the airline "encapsulates" domestic German flights from European circuits in order to be able to operate these independently of overcrowded airspaces in Southern Europe.

New boarding processes for a more punctual take-off

An improved boarding process, which Eurowings has successfully introduced at all major airports in Europe, also contributes to more punctuality. The focus is on hand luggage one of the main drivers for delays. If passengers travel with too much, too large or too heavy hand luggage, the boarding procedures delay. It is not unusual for a flight to take off late because baggage has to be brought into the hold at the last minute. That's why Eurowings informs passengers on well booked flights in advance by SMS about the possibility of handing in hand luggage free of charge at check-in. This ensures smooth boarding, more comfort on board and punctual departure.

Save time with online services

If you want to save time and avoid stress at the airport, Eurowings recommends using the web or mobile check-in. Passengers can conveniently print their boarding pass at home or have it sent to them by SMS or e-mail using the mobile service. This service is available to passengers 72 hours before departure. The Eurowings App also informs passengers about any flight changes and alternative rebooking options.