Good evening,

Marie Lisa Kehler

Deputy head of the regional section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

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Many passengers on the Easter weekend: So, so.

So you're sitting on the balcony with your relatives on Easter weekend and drinking coffee?

Then you are not one of those people who packed their bags and booked a trip to “main thing far away” after two years of the pandemic.

Passenger numbers at Frankfurt Airport are increasing again.

In March alone, airport operator Fraport counted 2.9 million passengers.

Compared to March last year, this means an increase of 217.9 percent.

And the upward trend is likely to continue.

After all, Easter vacationers can choose from 245 destinations at the country's largest airport.

According to a spokesman on Wednesday, Fraport expects up to 170,000 passengers in one day for the Easter weekend.

Good news from an economic point of view.

Passengers, on the other hand, have to be prepared for longer waiting times.

Because the corona savings measures also affected the airport staff - especially employees in passenger handling.

The positions have not yet all been filled.

It is therefore important to pack a little patience and enough time with you.

30,000 Eintracht fans in Barcelona: Among those who will take off for the Easter weekend, there are certainly many Eintracht fans.

Around 30,000 want to support the players in Barcelona on Thursday.

The well-known Eintracht fan Basti Red is one of those who is in the stadium, but does not travel by plane but by bus. In an interview with our editor Daniel Schleidt, he spoke about the fascination of Eintracht, the special nature of the fan scene and talked about what the club means to him.

The pandemic has certainly ensured that some fans have moved away from Eintracht, as Red says.

"But most of them, I count myself among them, also felt what they were missing during this time."

says Red. Eintracht international – that is something very special.

He announces: "We take the Euro-League seriously and produce incredible images that also help Uefa and the competition itself.

Bayern fans have a different approach: for them, a Barca game is probably only not normal if it's a semi-final or they win 7-2 - but in the end I don't care at all."

And Red says something else.

The Eintracht fan is a "permanent pessimist".

Every journey, every trip, is headed: "Who knows when I'll do it again." And because pessimism legitimizes action, Red, like thousands of other fans, accepts the long journey.

Time and money are invested in supporting the players on the pitch.

Be honest: is it worth it?

Or isn't that stress too?

Again, as only a true fan can reply, Red replies: "Brutal stress.

I don't enjoy watching football itself.

The 90 minutes are actually a huge torment, because either you're angry because Eintracht is behind;

or you're afraid Eintracht will lose a lead.(...) But the core of why I love Eintracht so much is that

that this club is an eternal connecting, emotional element for friendships, for shared experiences.

It doesn’t matter whether one gets married, the other studies somewhere else or moves away: you lose school friends, but the boys and girls you go to play football with always come back.” In a way, you think that’s also a form of the Easter message not?