Berlin and Hamburg airports have become the latest transport hubs in Germany to be disrupted by strike action, with another walkout by rail workers also set to take place later this week.
Berlin-Brandenburg airport had to cancel all 240 scheduled departures on Monday (24 April) due to the strike called by the Ver.di union, with arriving flights also disrupted.
Security staff at the airport, who are members of the Ver.di union, have been staging their latest one-day walkout in an ongoing dispute over pay.
“Due to the announced warning strike at the aviation security controls, no departures are possible today," said Berlin-Brandenburg airport in an update.
“Arriving flights may also be affected by cancellations and changes to the flight schedule due to the warning strike.”
Meanwhile Hamburg airport was hit by flight cancellations on Monday as ground handlers working for Aviation Handling Services Hamburg (AHS) staged a 24-hour stoppage.
Ver.di has also called a separate strike for around 5,000 rail workers on Wednesday (26 April), with industrial action planned in the Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg regions.
The union said it was calling the latest rail walkout after a “first unsuccessful round of negotiations” with employers’ association AGVDE. Ver.di is looking to secure an increase of €550 per month for its members over the next 12 months.
Both train and airline services in Germany were disrupted last week by a series of similar strikes.