Leipzig-Halle is the safest airport in Germany, according to the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC). During their annual airport check, the pilots praised the exemplary lighting systems on the runways. This also includes all-day illuminated stop bars on the approaches to prevent collisions on the runways.
The catastrophic collision between two aircraft in Tokyo-Haneda at the beginning of 2024 is a warning example of such accidents. Although stop bars were in place there, they were defective at the time of the accident. Five people died on board a Coast Guard plane, while the crew and passengers of a Japan Airlines Airbus managed to escape the flaming inferno alive.
The previous leader, Munich, slipped to second place in the current evaluation because the stop bars there are not in operation all day. According to a VC spokesperson, it is a common problem at German airports that air traffic control usually only switches on the stop bars when visibility is poor.
