Major security staff strike hits German airports

BERLIN, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Following walkouts by German train drivers last week, a major one-day strike by aviation security staff hit 11 airports in the country on Thursday.

Security staff at Cologne Bonn Airport have already been on strike since Wednesday evening. "Almost all flights are canceled. Passenger control is not staffed due to the strike and no passengers can enter the security area all day," the airport said on Thursday. "The terminals are almost empty."

At Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt, around 310 out of 1,120 flights have been canceled. However, the situation at the terminals is "orderly," a spokesperson for airport operator Fraport told Xinhua on Thursday.

Fraport had already announced the day before that the security checks outside the transit area would be closed. "It is therefore not possible to board flights from Frankfurt." Passengers wanting to start their journey in Frankfurt were asked not to come to the airport.

"The strike is bad news for German airports and almost 200,000 passengers," Ralph Beisel, Managing Director of the German airports association ADV, told Xinhua. ADV is expecting that over 1,100 flights will have to be canceled or delayed.

"The airports are not a bargaining party in this dispute, but are once again the venue for a conflict of interests," Beisel said. ADV is calling on the trade union Verdi to seek a solution at the negotiating table.

Verdi is negotiating for around 25,000 airport security staff across Germany. The union is demanding a wage increase of 2.80 euros (3.02 U.S. dollars) an hour, as well as higher bonuses and overtime pay from the first hour of overtime, for a collective agreement term of twelve months.

The federal association of aviation security companies (BDLS) said that these demands would mean additional costs of 250 million euros in 2024 alone. Employers had offered pay increases of 4 percent for 2024, and a further 3 percent for 2025.

The walkouts are part of a series of strikes in Europe's largest economy. Last weekend, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn was again hit by a major train drivers' strike lasting several days. Meanwhile, Verdi is calling for a nationwide strike by local public transport workers on Friday. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar)