American flies to Germany to meet girlfriend, is caught disguised as a janitor

The 20-year-old, who had disguised himself as an airport janitor to circumvent the screening process, was put on a US-bound flight.

A European Union (EU) border sign on a road on Germany's border with Austria | Photo: Michaela Handrek-Rehle | Bloomberg

New Delhi: A 20-year-old American man flew to Germany to try and meet his girlfriend living there even as countries around the world remained under lockdown due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

German news service DW reported that the US national flew into Frankfurt airport from Washington D.C. Sunday, where he disguised himself as an airport janitor to circumvent the screening process. He wore a reflective vest, picked up two garbage bags and headed towards the checkpoint, pretending to empty the trash.

Another staff member at the Frankfurt airport observed that he couldn’t speak German and had no security ID. She proceeded to inform the police, who then detained the American, according to the report.

Upon being questioned, the man said he had come up with this plan because he could not think of any legal possibility by which he could meet his girlfriend, who is based in Germany.

Flights running during Covid-19 lockdown

DW reported that although Germany continued to maintain air traffic connection with the US, nobody was allowed to enter the country under the present travel restrictions in view of the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 43 lakh people worldwide, and killed more than 2.9 lakh people so far. The airports were only making exceptions for German residents or family members of German nationals. Also, travellers with long-term visas are being allowed into the country.

The US, however, still continues to fly domestic flights every day to maintain the minimum flight schedule requirements in the federal government’s coronavirus aid package.

The European Union is considering reopening its borders to tourists in a Covid-19 recovery plan, The Guardian reported.

The police at Frankfurt airport said that even if the US national had managed to sneak past the security checkpoint, he would still not be able to exit the airport. The American would have been in the transit area and required to go through a special checkpoint managed by the border police.

The man was put on a US-bound flight Monday.