No flights from Hamburg on Monday

In the middle of the Hamburg spring break, no regular flights will take off from Hamburg Airport from Sunday evening to Monday evening due to a warning strike. “Because the passengers cannot pass through the checkpoint that was on strike, all 123 planned departures will be canceled or will take place without passengers,” the airport said on Saturday. The security check must remain closed. The northern German airports of Hanover and Bremen as well as the capital's Berlin-Brandenburg airport BER are also on strike all day by Verdi.

Hamburg Airport asked travelers to keep themselves informed about their flight status and, if necessary, to contact the airline or tour operator. Because of the warning strike, there could also be flight cancellations and significant delays at arrivals throughout the day. A total of 244 flights were scheduled for Monday (123 departures and 121 arrivals) with more than 30,000 passengers.

The airport expects numerous rebookings on Tuesday and the following days. As of Saturday, 122 take-offs and 122 landings are planned for Tuesday in Hamburg. The flights will be heavily loaded.

The Verdi union called around 2,000 employees at the airport to a 24-hour warning strike at the start of the night shift on Sunday around 10 p.m. There had already been a 24-hour warning strike at Hamburg Airport in mid-February. According to the airport, 253 flights and around 32,000 passengers were affected.

According to Verdi, the employees of Hamburg Airport and several airport subsidiaries (maintenance, IT, parking space management) who fall directly under the collective agreement of the public service or are indirectly linked to it via in-house collective agreements should take part in the strike in Hamburg. However, the employees of security services who are covered by the nationwide collective agreement in aviation security and the employees of passenger handling are also called upon.

"All of these companies have one thing in common: air traffic has been booming again for a long time and they earn very well," said trade union secretary Lars Stubbe. However, the management refused to pay their employees appropriately and fairly. "Many families have lost a lot of money in recent years with inflation and Corona, money that they now lack." Aviation security employees have been negotiating their allowances for more than two years. "So far, the employers have not moved at all." The irregular working hours represent a high burden and must be rewarded accordingly.

Airport spokeswoman Janet Niemeyer criticized the fact that the warning strike was taking place in the middle of the Hamburg March holidays, which are a popular travel time for families with children. "This strike is being carried out again and again, and quite deliberately, at the expense of Hamburg's passengers." "In the future, employees will receive an average of around 20 percent more salary."

The union is planning a two-hour rally in front of the terminals on Monday (12:00 p.m.). The deputy Verdi country manager Ole Borgard wants to speak there. The union expects 300 participants.

According to the Verdi union, around 250 employees of the city cleaning and the Hamburg State Opera took part in a rally on Saturday. The warning strike in Hamburg got off to a good start, said a Verdi spokesman on Saturday. "The recycling centers are closed, the waste bins in Hamburg are full."

Theatergoers are also feeling the effects of the warning strike. The premiere "Il Trittico" planned for Sunday in the Hamburg State Opera is canceled, as the opera announced on Friday. Instead, the performance next Wednesday should act as a premiere.