(Bloomberg) — Germany’s two largest airports warned of widespread halts to passenger flights on Friday after a union representing ground staff called for a one-day strike.
(Bloomberg) — Germany’s two largest airports warned of widespread halts to passenger flights on Friday after a union representing ground staff called for a one-day strike.
Frankfurt Airport, where more than 1,000 starts and landings were planned for Friday, expects that regular passenger flights will be canceled, with only emergency operations continuing, according to a spokesman. The airport would normally have served between 120,000 and 130,000 passengers that day.
Munich Airport said it will scrap more than 700 departures and arrivals. While special flights for the Munich Security Conference will go ahead, the strikes are bound to complicate travel for delegates attending the annual gathering of defense and foreign-policy makers.
German labor union Verdi has called for warning strikes at the nation’s major airports on Friday to underline demands for wage increases. The union is seeking a significant boost in pay for workers hit by higher energy prices and record inflation.
The Stuttgart airport also said no flights would be possible on Friday, while Hamburg, Hannover, Dortmund and Bremen warned that service would be disrupted.
The strike is another blow to Deutsche Lufthansa AG, after its operations were disrupted Wednesday and hundreds of flights grounded. Workers had accidentally drilled through cables in a suburb close to the Frankfurt airport, bringing down the airline’s IT systems.
(Updates with additional airports in the fourth paragraph)
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