Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg – airports will cease regular passenger operations on Friday

After the strike announced by the Verdi union, Frankfurt Airport will cease regular passenger operations on Friday. This was announced by Germany's largest airport on Wednesday evening. Munich and Hamburg airports had previously announced that they would suspend regular passenger operations on Friday.

In view of the public sector warning strike on Friday, the airport association ADV expects 2,340 cancellations in domestic and international air traffic. “The fact that more than 295,000 air travelers suffered from the conflict on Friday is not reasonable. Solutions must be found at the negotiating table and not on the backs of the passengers," said Ralph Beisel, CEO of the ADV, on Wednesday, according to a statement. The passengers would become a pawn in the Verdi strike tactics.

According to Verdi on Wednesday, in addition to the hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, the airports in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Bremen, Hanover and Dortmund will also be on strike. Several airports - such as Frankfurt and Hamburg - advised passengers not to come to the airport in the first place. The airports called on passengers to obtain information from the respective airline.

The background is the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector. In addition, nationwide collective bargaining for aviation security and at some airports a round of collective bargaining for ground handling services.

In Frankfurt, 1005 flight movements were planned for Friday, the Fraport spokeswoman said. The operating company spoke of 137,000 affected passengers.

According to the airport operator Fraport, transfer traffic will also be affected and cannot be processed. "Full flight operations" will not be possible on Friday, the company said. The largest German airline, Lufthansa, said that on the day of the strike, "a large part" of its flights would probably be affected by the effects of the strike.

More than 700 take-offs and landings are said to be affected in Munich. All special flights are excluded, including relief flights, flights for medical, technical and other emergencies and flights for the Munich Security Conference beginning on Friday. Leading politicians from all over the world are expected to attend the meeting, including numerous heads of state and government.

In addition to the public service, there are local negotiations for ground handling services and a nationwide round of collective bargaining for aviation security. Aid deliveries to the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria should be exempt from the warning strike.

In the negotiations, Verdi and the civil servants' association DBB are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more for the approximately 2.5 million employees. The term should be twelve months. The employers have rejected the claims. The second round of negotiations is scheduled for February 22nd and 23rd in Potsdam.

Already on Wednesday there were delays and cancellations for tens of thousands of passengers with connections via the Frankfurt hub. A cable damage on a Frankfurt S-Bahn line had led to a failure of the computer systems at Lufthansa. At the Frankfurt hub, 242 of around 1,000 planned flights were canceled by the early evening. Passengers were asked to transfer to the train.