Nearly 640 flights were canceled in Germany on Thursday because of a strike by security personnel, announced the airports of Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart.
This corresponds to more than half of the 1,050 scheduled flights today at these three airports.
In Düsseldorf, the third largest air hub in the country, 370 of the 580 planned flights have been canceled, said the company managing the airport in a statement.
According to the German agency DPA, some 100,000 passengers should be concerned by the social movement, which began at 03:00 (02:00 GMT) and should continue until 00:00 (23:00 GMT). In Cologne-Bonn, where 131 flights were canceled out of nearly 200 that were planned, the strike has also slowed considerably cargo operations, said the union Verdi DPA.
Munich airport, not directly concerned by the social movement, also had to cancel a hundred flights due to the impact of the strike. Verdi, who represents 23,000 airport security agents in the country, wants salaries to be raised to 20 euros per hour, against about 17 euros currently.
The Federal Association of Aviation Safety Companies (BDLS) has proposed salary increases ranging from 2 to 6.4%. A first warning strike was held Monday morning in the two airports of the German capital, Tegel and Schönefeld, resulting in the cancellation of fifty flights. The next negotiations between Verdi and the BDLS are scheduled to take place on 23 January.
