Numerous flights cancelled as strikes hit several German airports

Passengers will again have to prepare for considerable delays and cancellations at several airports in Germany on Monday because of strikes by airport staff.

According to the trade union Verdi, the capital's airport Berlin-Brandenburg BER and the northern German airports of Hamburg, Hanover, Bremen will be subject to a full-day strike. This is also likely to have an impact on other airports.

The union has called on security staff as well as other employees to take industrial action.

The airports have advised travellers to contact their airline for flight status information.

In Hamburg, the industrial action was to begin on Sunday at the start of the night shift at around 10 pm (2100 GMT). About 2,000 workers are called to industrial action there, according to union sources.

According to the airport, all 123 planned flights will therefore be cancelled. In addition, 50 of the 121 flights to Hamburg planned for Monday were cancelled on Sunday.

At the airports in Hanover and Bremen, the strike has been announced for 24 hours starting at midnight. According to Verdi, it is expected that no passenger planes will be able to take off or land on Monday.

In Hanover, 35 departures and 34 arrivals were originally planned for Monday. In Bremen, 20 departures and 19 arrivals were originally scheduled.

At the capital's airport, the strike is scheduled to start at 3:30 am in the night and last all day until midnight. Around 200 departures have been cancelled. According to the airport, about 27,000 passengers are affected.

A spokesman for the airport said on Sunday afternoon that the airport expects that about one third of the 200 planned landings will be cancelled.

According to the union, the background is the unsuccessful collective bargaining for the payment of aviation security workers for working at inconvenient times. Negotiations for ground staff and for federal and municipal public service workers also played a role.

Kaynak: DPA