BERLIN — Strikes threatened to ground flights on Thursday at some of Germany’s biggest airports, including the global hub Frankfurt, in the latest wave of industrial action by transport workers to hit Europe’s largest economy, officials said.
The labor union Verdi has called for strikes by security staff at airports across the country as it raises pressure on the government in wage talks.
“The security checkpoints outside the transit area will be closed. It is therefore not possible to board flights from Frankfurt,” airport operator Fraport said in a statement.
All passengers who had planned to start their journey in Frankfurt were therefore asked to not come to the airport, Fraport said, adding that 1,050 departures and arrivals had been scheduled originally.
A spokesperson for Berlin Brandenburg’s airport said all departures would be canceled on Thursday but that flights would go back to normal on Friday at the start of the winter holidays in Germany’s capital.
Hamburg Airport said it would take similar measures. “All 126 departures on Thursday will be canceled or will take place without passengers,” the airport said, adding that cancellations and delays are also to be expected for arrivals. — Reuters