At least 2.300 flights are canceled at seven major airports

More than 2.300 flights to and from seven major German airports are expected to be canceled today due to a 24-hour warning strike called by the Ver.di union for civil servants, ground staff and security staff starting Thursday night. . Around 300.000 passengers will either not travel or face long delays.

At the airports of Frankfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen, the problems already started last night, as the mobilization involves many workers on the night shift, which starts at 21:00 or 22:00. At most of the major airports, flights are now almost at a standstill, while Lufthansa has already canceled all of its flights – a total of 1.300 – at Frankfurt and Munich airports. Some flights are being diverted to neighboring airports not affected by the strike - around 20 Frankfurt take-offs and landings will take place in Dusseldorf today, while efforts are being made to transfer some passengers by rail.

The strike coincides with the start today of the Munich International Security Conference, attended by at least 45 heads of state and government, hundreds of political and military officials, representatives from academia and business. As clarified by the organization, the flights of the government aircraft will take place normally in Munich, however huge problems have been caused with the movement of the rest of the participants. At least 700 take-offs and landings were scheduled for today in Munich.

"Ver.di is going completely overboard here and bringing the collective bargaining conflict onto the backs of passengers," said the president of the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry BDL and head of Munich Airport Jost Lammers, while the Airports Association ADV supported in a statement that "passengers become the target of Ver.di's strike tactics". "Employees are collectively putting pressure on their employers because no results have been achieved from the negotiations to date," replied the union's deputy president, Christine Belle, and stressed that action must be taken now - with more staff, higher wages and better working conditions – in order to avoid a repeat of the chaotic scenes of the 2022 summer season.

RES