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David Ashtamkar (2nd from right) and his family endured arduous hours at Zurich Airport.
On Wednesday evening, shortly before midnight, hectic broke out at Zurich Airport. Family man David Ashtamkar (44) desperately calls the police. He is “locked up” in Terminal D along with other passengers. The travelers from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv are at a loss.
“The Swiss plane only arrived in Zurich at 10:36 p.m. – about an hour late. We missed our connecting flight to Geneva,” Ashtamkar told Blick. You contact the cabin crew and are sent on an airport trip.
Bang at 11:36 p.m
«They showed us the way to a transfer counter. But it was closed.” Going to another counter also ends unsuccessfully. Ultimately, they end up in Terminal D, where only the security check is open. “We had no chance of getting away,” says Ashtamkar.
A few minutes later, the story begins to move. “A lady and an elderly couple who were also passing through were picked up and probably taken to another gate.” Ashtamkar, his two children and his wife and two other families are still waiting. The next blow follows at 11:36 p.m.
Police operation after midnight
“We were told that we have to stay in the terminal until morning.” Your supposed last chance for a comfortable place to sleep is the transit hotel, which is integrated into the airport. But there is no free bed left. Ashtamkar’s heart bursts. He calls the police. “She arrived around 12:15 and let us out.” The Zurich cantonal police confirmed the operation to Blick. “The family was stuck in a locked transfer area and was then taken to the public area.”
A Brazilian family with a baby en route to São Paulo had to sleep in the terminal. She probably didn’t have a visa for Switzerland. Ashtamkar and his family stayed at a hotel nearby.
Airport knows nothing
When Blick asked the media office at Zurich Airport about the incident, they reacted with surprise. “We have no detailed knowledge of this case,” writes media spokeswoman Jasmin Bodmer. “It may be that travelers stay too long after arrival and then the counters are already closed.” Important: “We always talk about non-Schengen travelers here. Anyone arriving from a Schengen destination no longer has to go through passport control and can go straight to baggage claim and enter the country.” Israel is not included in the Schengen Agreement.
Ashtamkar can now smile about the incident: “Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, that’s the most important thing.” From now on he always knows at least one funny anecdote to tell when someone mentions Zurich Airport.