Hundreds of Lufthansa flights in and out of Germany have been cancelled today (Tuesday) due to a strike by security staff at seven airports.
The airline warned of “significant disruption” at its main Frankfurt airport hub – Germany’s biggest – as more than 500 flights were grounded.
The action by staff security staff will also affect services from Munich, Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig/Halle, Dresden and Hamburg.
The walkouts are expected to impact the travel plans of more than 220,000 passengers.
Lufthansa said that passengers who are supposed to begin their journey in Frankfurt will not be able to reach their flight during the entire strike period as they will not be able to go through a security check.
“Lufthansa is therefore asking these guests not to go to the airport during that time, but instead to use rebooking options,” the carrier added.
Today’s walkout follows two strikes last week at another four German airports and has been organised by service sector union Verdi, as it seeks to secure an hourly wage of €20 for Germany’s 23,000 security-related airport employees.
About 3,000 Lufthansa passengers missed their flights at Frankfurt airport on December 23 because waiting times at the security gates rose to 90 minutes as the system was overwhelmed by passenger numbers.
Frankfurt airport warned: “The strike activities are expected to cause major disruptions and flight cancellations throughout the day.
“In particular, the security checkpoints outside the transit area will remain closed during the strike, from the early morning hours until 8pm.
“Thus, originating passengers departing from Frankfurt will not be able to pass through the legally required security checks and get to their flights.
“We therefore strongly advise all originating passengers from Frankfurt to avoid coming to the airport. Please contact your airline or travel operator as soon as possible for information on your flight.
“We expect that transfer processes for connecting passengers in the transit area will still largely be possible. Nevertheless, also transfer passengers should expect disruptions and delays due to the strike.”
Detlef Kayser, Lufthansa executive board member for resources and operations standards, said: “Although all aviation partners agreed that we want to improve the situation for our passengers in 2019, the Verdi union is escalating this collective bargaining dispute disproportionately and to an unacceptable extent.
“This series of strikes can certainly no longer be described as warning strikes.
“It is also clear that Verdi has no interest in making its contribution to improving Germany as an aviation location.
“We already have the lowest quality security checks at the highest costs, compared to Europe and other countries around the world.”