Flights grounded at Hamburg, Berlin airports

PASSENGERS at two major German airports, Berlin and Hamburg, faced disruptions on Monday (Apr 24) as security workers and ground services held a one-day strike over pay.

Berlin-Brandenburg airport, which serves the capital, said all departures were cancelled and some landings would also be affected after the Verdi union called security workers out on strike until midnight local time.

An airport spokesperson said roughly 240 flights had been scheduled to take off.

Employees from the private Aviation Handling Services Hamburg (AHS), who handle check-in, boarding and lost-and-found for a number of airlines including Lufthansa at Hamburg airport, also called a 24-hour strike at short notice.

Neither arrivals nor flights serviced by other companies were expected to be affected, the airport said.

AHS was due to handle 84 of Monday’s 160 departures, and 31 had already been cancelled by 9 am local time.

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Europe’s biggest economy has seen some of the most disruptive strikes in decades as unions press for higher wages to offset the surging cost of living.

Last week, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart airports were hit by strikes.

Ralph Beisel, chief executive of the airport association ADV, said unions were taking their right to carry out warning strikes prior to arbitration to absurd lengths. REUTERS