Overview
- The Vereinigung Cockpit published its 2026 airport check on July 28–29, 2026 and ranked Munich as Germany’s safest airport driven by its permanent operation of stopbars at runway access points.
- Stopbars are red, in‑ground light bars at runway intersections that serve as a last physical barrier; VC and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency recommend they be run continuously regardless of weather to prevent collisions.
- VC warned many German airports still switch stopbars off for cost reasons, saying this leaves an avoidable safety gap and pointing to the deadly January 2024 Tokyo‑Haneda collision as a cautionary example when stopbars were not functioning.
- Rostock‑Laage fell to the bottom of the list largely because pilots are not invited to local safety meetings, while Leipzig/Halle dropped from first to second and some airports such as Lübeck, Zürich and Geneva were praised for better practices.
- VC stressed that all assessed airports meet acceptable standards for passenger flights but called for targeted fixes and stronger implementation of EASA guidance, a push that could prompt regulators and airports to expand 24/7 stopbar use and include pilots in safety teams.