Airports strike disrupts flights in Germany

Almost 300,000 passengers faced flight delays and cancellations as unionized workers at seven airports in Germany embark on a 24-hour strike to demand better pay.

The full-day walkout, called by the Verdi trade union, prompted Germany’s biggest carrier Lufthansa to cancel more than 1,300 flights at its two busiest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich.

“The strike is expected to have a strong impact, especially on domestic air traffic, ranging from delays to cancellations and even a partial shutdown of air traffic,” Verdi said in a statement.

“The terminals are empty this morning,” said a spokesperson for the airport in Hamburg, adding that very few of the 32,000 passengers affected had turned up.

Around 295,000 passengers are affected by the cancellation of some 2,340 flights at Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart airports, according to the German ADV airports association.

“Solutions must be found at the negotiating table and not at the expense of passengers,” ADV chief Ralph Beisel said.

Also Read: Germany’s Defence Minister resigns

“When we look at the airport terminals this morning, it reminds us more of the worst days of the coronavirus and less of a warning strike,” ADV’s Ralph Beisel told broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

German trade union Verdi announced the strike on Wednesday after it said collective bargaining efforts for ground service staff, public sector officials and aviation security workers had made little progress.

“If nothing is done about pay now, we will all be in for another chaotic summer,” Verdi Deputy Chair Christine Behle told Inforadio on Friday. “It’s about sending a really strong signal.”

The strike coincides with the 59th Munich Security Conference (MSC). Romania’s foreign minister, who was set to arrive on one of the cancelled flights, will fly to Austria instead and then make the more-than-four-hour drive to Munich, a Romanian embassy official said.

Zainab Sa’id