Airports in the northern cities of Bremen, Berlin and Hamburg are all affected by flight cancellations, as staff go on strike to demand higher pay for certain working hours.

Monday strikes at northern German airports

People hoping to catch a flight to or from the German cities of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg on Monday may be impacted by severe flight cancellations for flights arriving at and departing from said airports.

In Berlin, around 200 flights have been cancelled and 27.000 passengers affected. In Hamburg, all departing flights and nearly half of the flights that were scheduled to arrive at the airport have been cancelled. All flights that were scheduled to and from Bremen have also been cancelled.

According to the German Airport Association around 45.000 passengers will be affected by the cancellations on Monday.

Airport employers have so far rejected striking workers’ demands, which include higher pay for working nights, weekends and bank holidays. The Monday strike was announced after a second failed round of negotiations - a third set of discussions is planned for March 27.

Europe rocked by strikes in recent weeks

Airport staff in the three German cities join Kita employees, rubbish collection workers, public transport staff, postal workers and employees in many other sectors in striking over recent weeks.

With the support of ver.di, Germany’s largest trade union, many workers across Germany are demanding a 10,5 percent pay rise in line with inflation. 

Just last week, however, Deutsche Post workers announced an indefinite strike for a 10,5 percent pay rise after months of negotiating. Now, Deutsche Post AG bosses have finally agreed to workers' terms and granted an 11,5 percent pay rise.

Similarly, in the UK, teachers, nurses and rail staff - to name a few - have been holding intermittent strikes since December last year. In France, transport has been ground to a halt as workers go on strike to oppose Emmanuel Macron’s government raising the retirement age in France.

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