Thousands of flights to and from Germany have been cancelled on Monday (10 March) due to a strike by trade union Verdi.
Ground staff at 13 German airports, including the country’s largest hubs at Frankfurt and Munich, are holding a 24-hour stoppage as part of a pay dispute with the Germany's federal government.
Verdi's industrial action is also affecting Stuttgart, Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin-Brandenburg and Leipzig-Halle airports. While security staff have walked out at the smaller Weeze and Karlsruhe-Baden-Baden airports.
Frankfurt Airport said that its flights would be “heavily disrupted” on Monday, with transfer traffic also “affected”. Reports in the German media said that 1,054 of the day's 1,116 scheduled flights to and from Frankfurt had been cancelled.
Munich Airport warned passengers that there would be “considerable restrictions on regular passenger traffic and a greatly reduced flight schedule are to be expected”.
While Berlin-Brandenburg Airport said “no regular flights” would be possible on Monday due to the walkout and that it “expected to resume regular and scheduled airport operations” on Tuesday (March 11).
Lufthansa added in a statement: “There will be delays and extensive cancellations on all Lufthansa Group Airlines’ flights to and from the affected airports on the day of the strike.
“Lufthansa Group has published a special flight schedule. The aim is to be able to return to a stable flight schedule as quickly as possible after the end of the strike.”
The strike is part of wider dispute with Verdi seeking a collective wage rise for around 2.5 million public sector workers in Germany. The union wants a pay rise of 8 per cent for its members as well as higher bonuses and extra days off, but the federal government said this is not financially viable.
German business travel association VDR said the strike would cause a “considerable burden” for the economy and business travellers.
"Even if we respect the right to strike, the actions of the trade unions must not be at the expense of the competitiveness of Germany as a business location," added VDR president Christoph Carnier.
"An efficient and reliable transport infrastructure, tax incentives for sustainable business mobility and the removal of administrative hurdles are crucial to making Germany fit for the future."