lufthansa

A state funeral for the victims of the Germanwings plane that was intentionally crashed in the French Alps in March is to be held this Monday evening at 6pm (CET) at Barcelona's Sagrada Família basilica. The flight was going from Barcelona to Düsseldorf and, out of the 150 casualties, 53 were living in Catalonia. The ceremony follows the state funeral that took place in Cologne's Cathedral 10 days ago. The King of Spain, Felipe VI, is going to be attending the Barcelona ceremony, together with his wife, Queen Letizia. There has been some controversy over the fact that the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona, Lluís Martínez Sistach, has chosen to celebrate a Catholic mass, instead of holding a multi-confessional ceremony in order to represent as much as possible the victims' different faiths. Regarding language diversity, the ceremony will be held in Spanish, Catalan, German, French, English and Greek. In the German ceremony, Catalan was not included, nor was it included on the memorial plaque set at the crash site.

On Thursday, the families of the Germanwings crash victims arrived at the crash site to bid farewell to their relatives. They did so on the day it became known that the aircraft was deliberately crashed by the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, killing all 150 people on board. A private ceremony took place in a field in Le Vernet that hosts a small chapel and faces the mountain on which the plane crashed. The relatives of the victims, most of them Germans and Catalans, arrived by bus from Marseille, escorted by the French Gendarmerie and psychological support teams. A tribute plaque was unveiled and they were told that the crash happened just on the other side of the mountain in front of them. After the ceremony, they were transferred to a pavilion in Seyne-les-Alpes, where they were offered religious services of various faiths for those who needed them. In the evening, most of the Catalan families decided to return home, as initially planned.

A bus transporting relatives of the passengers of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday has departed on Wednesday evening from Barcelona, together with a support team from Catalonia's Medical Emergencies Service (SEM). In addition, on Thursday morning, Lufthansa, which owns low-cost airline Germanwings, will put on a plane from Barcelona to Marseille to transport other relatives, who will also travel with SEM teams. The CEO of the German company, Carsten Spohr, held a press conference in Barcelona El Prat Airport on Wednesday evening, in which he announced this measure, after meeting with some relatives. Spohr also stated that the accident was "incomprehensible" and that the aircraft had departed from Barcelona with a half-hour delay due to airport traffic and not because of a technical problem. During the day, relatives have been taken care of in a hotel in Castelldefels.

The President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, travelled on Wednesday morning to France in order to visit the crash site of the Germanwings Barcelona-Düsseldorf flight, which crashed in the Alps on Tuesday killing all 150 people on board. Out of the 51 passengers with Spanish passports whose identities have so far been confirmed, 39 of them were Catalans, although this figure is likely to increase in the coming hours. Furthermore, although not Spanish nationals, other victims had been living and working in Catalonia. Mas joined the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who was also visiting the area together with the French President, François Hollande, and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Rajoy and Mas flew together to France, and arrived at the crash site by road a few minutes after Hollande and Merkel.

Town halls and the Catalan Parliament, but also private companies, public institutions and a high school related to the victims of the Germanwings aircraft have observed a minutes silence on Wednesday at noon, in tribute to the 150 people killed in the accident in the French Alps. At least 39 of the 51 victims with Spanish nationality were Catalans, although this figure is likely to increase in the coming hours. Many were businesspeople on their way to an agri-food fair in Cologne. Among the victims there was also a group of 16 high school students and 2 teachers from Germany, whom had spent an exchange week in Llinars del Vallès (Greater Barcelona). The high school that hosted them held a homage and mourning tribute. In addition, Barcelona's Liceu Opera Theatre also observed a minutes silence, since baritone Oleg Bryjak and mezzo Maria Radner, and her family, were among the victims.

Barcelona El Prat has been the main centre in Catalonia for assisting the relatives of the passengers flying on the Germanwings aircraft between the Catalan airport and Düsseldorf that crashed in the Alps this morning. 150 people were on board and, most likely, there will not be any survivors, according to French authorities. Teams of psychologists, social workers and first responders, from the Catalan Government, the Red Cross and professional associations have been deployed at Terminal 2. Lufthansa, the owner of Germanwings, attended more than 150 relatives and booked nearby hotels to host them during the upcoming days. The flight was regularly used by Germans working in Catalonia as well as by tourists. A group of 16 German high school students was on board, after spending an exchange week in the Greater Barcelona area. At least 31 Catalans were also travelling to Düsseldorf on this flight, many of them to attend a trade fair. Catalan authorities have declared 3 official days of mourning.

A Germanwings Airbus A320 airliner covering the route between Barcelona El Prat and Düsseldorf has crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday around 11am (CET), according to initial information from the radio station Europe 1. According to the French President, François Hollande, it is very likely that "there will not by any survivors". The GWI9525 flight, run by Lufthansa's low-cost company, was carrying 144 passengers and 6 crew members (2 pilots and 4 cabin staff). The Spanish Government announced there were "45 people with Spanish surnames" on board, and 42 passengers were of Spanish nationality, announced Germanwings. The Vice President of the Catalan Government, Joana Ortega, is heading to the area.

Passengers that catch a cruise after arriving in Barcelona by plane can check-in at the airport until November 6th. At the same time, travellers who arrive by cruise and then catch a flight can check-in at the harbour terminal. More than 47,000 passengers used these services last year.