German airports expecting 700 cancelled flights from upcoming strikes

About 700 flights will be cancelled affecting nearly 100,000 passengers due to Verdi trade union strikes planned for Thursday and Friday at three German airports, the airport association ADV estimated on Wednesday.

"Almost 100,000 passengers will again suffer as a result of Verdi's strike tactics," said ADV chief executive Ralph Beisel.

Those looking to switch from air to rail on Friday are unlikely to be successful if they are travelling within Germany, as a strike by German rail workers represented by the Railway and Transport Union (EVG) is set to cause severe disruption that morning.

As for air travel, Verdi called for strikes at the Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne/Bonn airports as it negotiates with employers over time bonuses for night, weekend and holiday work at some airports as well as pay for security and service staff at others.

The industrial action went "far beyond the tolerable level", Beisel charged. The airports were once again being misused as a permanent strike stage.

In the first three and a half months of this year, more than 900,000 passengers had already been forced to reschedule or even cancel their flights due to Verdi strikes.

The union is in the middle of negotiations with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS) about the bonsues and is also pursuing a better collective agreement on overtime pay for security and service staff at commercial airports.

A written offer by the BDLS was insufficient, the union said, and rejected. Negotiations are to continue on 27 and 28 April.

On the railways, national rail operator Deutsche Bahn has already prepared its passengers for "considerable restrictions." Martin Seiler, the company's board member for human resources, said in Berlin on Wednesday that  "everyone who can reschedule should do so."

Long-distance and regional traffic will largely come to a standstill, at least in the first half of the day.

The fact that there will be strikes in the air and rail transport sectors at the same time on Friday is a coincidence, EVG negotiator Kristian Loroch said. Unlike the coordinated, large-scale warning strike in the transport sector at the end of March, the two unions had not agreed on Friday beforehand.

EVG is demanding at least €650 ($710) more per month or 12% for the upper incomes for the employees, as well as a duration of twelve months.

Independent arbitrators proposed a solution to the public sector wage dispute last weekend. The unions intend to negotiate the proposal with the federal government and local authorities at the end of next week.