Germany airport strikes: Travel chaos as security staff to walk out this week affecting major sites including Frankfurt, Berlin and Dusseldorf

Airport security staff at most of Germany’s major airports will go on strike on Thursday (1 February) over a pay dispute. The trade union Verdi announced the strikes yesterday (Tuesday 30 January) and said the action will affect the country’s busiest airport, Frankfurt as well as Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden, Erfurt and Stuttgart.

Munich airport, Germany's second-busiest, isn't affected. German broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk reported that approximately 25,000 employees in the aviation security sector have been called upon to stop work from early in the morning. 

Three rounds of talks so far haven't produced a settlement. Verdi is seeking a raise of 2.80 euros per hour ($3.03) for all employees and calling for bonuses for overtime work to kick in from the first extra hour.

The employers' association said it has offered a 4% raise this year and 3% next year, as well as concessions on when overtime bonuses kick in. Talks are due to resume on 6 February.

Similar industrial action took place in March last year, shutting down airports across Germany and disrupting air traffic. A spokeswoman from the Federal Association of Air Security Businesses (BDLS) told the AFP news agency they had not yet received official notification of the strike but criticised the plans in light of a regional public transport strike planned for the following day on Friday 2 February.

Berlin Brandenburg airport confirmed on Tuesday that there would be no departures for passengers on Thursday. An airport statement said arrivals into Berlin may also be affected although this will be up to the respective airlines. Around 170 take-offs and landings carrying almost 50,000 passengers had been planned for Berlin Brandenburg airport on Thursday.

Hamburg Airport (HAM) and Köln Bonn (Cologne) Airport (CGN) have also issued notices about the strike action. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hamburg Airport said: "All departures on Thursday will be cancelled. Passengers are asked to contact their airline." Cologne's airport stopped short of cancelling all flights and asked passengers to check their flight status with their airline or tour operator. SimpleFlying reported that according to Cirium's data, Lufthansa will be the most affected airline, with 36% of all departures from the affected airports. The site revealed that the airlines set to be most affected are:

1. Lufthansa - 401 flights
2. Eurowings - 153 flights
3. Ryanair - 39 flights
4. Turkish Airlines - 36 flights
5. British Airways - 35 flights
6. KLM - 35 flights
7. Austrian Airlines - 29 flights
8. SWISS - 27 flights
9. Condor - 25 flights
10. Air Dolomiti - 22 flights