Strike: No regular passenger flights at Munich, Hamburg and Frankfurt airports on Friday

München. 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.

Verdi announced on Wednesday night that it wanted to paralyze the airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen for the whole day on Friday – and is thus expanding the wage dispute in the public sector at airports. The employees of the operating companies are often paid according to the collective agreements of the municipalities.

The airport association ADV assumes that the warning strike on Friday will lead to a good 2,340 flight cancellations in domestic and international air traffic. Passengers would have to be prepared for significant impairments. “More than 295,000 passengers become the plaything of the Verdi strike tactics,” criticized the association.

According to Munich Airport, all special flights and flights for the Munich Security Conference beginning on Friday are excluded from the suspended passenger operations.

The warning strike is scheduled to begin early Friday morning and end on Saturday night. Aid deliveries to the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria are said to be exempt from the strike.

With the now continued warning strikes, the employees want to give emphasis to their demands in the collective bargaining dispute between the federal and local governments. In addition to the public service, there are local negotiations for ground handling services and a nationwide round of collective bargaining for aviation security.

IT problems: Flights in Leipzig and Dresden canceled

Meanwhile, after numerous flight cancellations and delays, Lufthansa began rebooting its computer systems on Wednesday afternoon. “We will feel the effects throughout the day,” said a spokesman. For Thursday, however, a largely normal process is expected again.

A breakdown during construction work in Frankfurt led to flight chaos at Lufthansa on Wednesday. Thousands of passengers with connections via the Frankfurt hub were affected by delays and cancellations as a result of cable damage.

Passengers were asked to transfer to the train. Frankfurt Airport was closed for around three hours and reopened for landings in the early afternoon.

According to the company, the Lufthansa problems on Wednesday were triggered by construction work on an S-Bahn line in Frankfurt. According to Deutsche Telekom, four fiber optic cables were severed by an excavator on Tuesday.

Since Wednesday morning, Lufthansa’s computer systems were no longer operational in Frankfurt, among other things for boarding. It was initially unclear why the disruption occurred with a time delay. According to Telekom, two affected cables were repaired overnight.

A crisis team met at the Lufthansa headquarters at Frankfurt Airport. Air traffic control blocked Frankfurt for landings so that the hub would not fill up with machines. Flights would be diverted to Nuremberg, Cologne or Düsseldorf, for example, said a spokesman for air traffic control. Shortly thereafter, Lufthansa canceled all of its flights from Frankfurt.

Cable severed during expansion in Frankfurt

A Lufthansa spokeswoman said they were working intensively on a solution. The IT problems primarily affect Frankfurt. At the other group hubs, operations are largely running normally, the spokeswoman said. Only one flight was canceled in Zurich, namely the one to Frankfurt. It is not correct that all flights worldwide have been canceled.

There was initially no blocking for the second Lufthansa hub in Munich. International flights were also affected by the landing ban in Frankfurt, so that numerous transfer passengers missed their connections.

How many flights are affected was unclear in the early afternoon. Passengers and planes were backed up in Munich and at Frankfurt Airport. The passengers were also not allowed into the waiting machines by means of a tally sheet because, according to the staff, important information about the departure was missing.

Several flights were canceled in Leipzig/Halle and Dresden due to the problems. Connections to and from Frankfurt were affected, as a spokesman for Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG said (Current departures and landings in Dresden).

Tens of thousands of flight passengers have to be prepared for cancellations and delays on Friday. The Verdi union announced on Wednesday night that it would then paralyze the airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen all day – thus expanding the wage dispute in the public sector at airports. The employees of the operating companies are often paid according to the collective agreements of the municipalities.

The warning strike is scheduled to begin early Friday morning and end on Saturday night. Aid deliveries to the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria are said to be exempt from the strike.

The Munich Security Conference is working on being able to guarantee the arrival of the conference participants. “Hundreds of decision-makers from all five continents have already confirmed their participation,” said a spokeswoman on Wednesday. The conference is considered the most important meeting of politicians and experts on security policy worldwide and begins on Friday.

With the now continued warning strikes, the employees want to give emphasis to their demands in the collective bargaining dispute between the federal and local governments. In addition to the public service, there are local negotiations for ground handling services and a nationwide round of collective bargaining for aviation security. (dpa)