More than 1,100 flights affected by German airport security strike

DPA
·1 min read
An Airbus A321-231 of the airline Vueling lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). The trade union Verdi has called on employees in the aviation security sector at Berlin Brandenburg Airport to go on an all-day warning strike on 01 February. Soeren Stache/dpa
An Airbus A321-231 of the airline Vueling lands at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). The trade union Verdi has called on employees in the aviation security sector at Berlin Brandenburg Airport to go on an all-day warning strike on 01 February. Soeren Stache/dpa

More than 1,100 flights at 11 airports in Germany will be cancelled or delayed on Thursday due to a strike by airport security staff, according to the airport industry group ADV.

An estimated 200,000 passengers will be affected by the delays or cancellations during the one-day strike, ADV said.

Workers for private aviation security firms at 11 major airports in Germany have been called to strike by the labour union Verdi amid collective bargaining talks.

The affected airports are Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Hanover, Stuttgart, Erfurt and Dresden.

German airline Lufthansa announced on Wednesday that it plans to still operate most of its schedule on Thursday despite the strike, although it won't be possible for passengers to enter security and board flights at the affected airports.

But Lufthansa said most of its long-haul flights will still operate as planned, even at its major Frankfurt hub, and the airline will also offer shuttle flights for connecting passengers.

The airline's secondary hub in Munich is not affected by the strike, and flight operations there are expected to continue relatively smoothly on Thursday.

Lufthansa said passengers for domestic German flights can exchange their ticket for a rail ticket free of charge, regardless of whether their flight takes place or not.