Staff at 11 airports in Germany are striking on March 10. Here’s what passengers should know about possible disruptions:

Airport strikes begin across Germany

Around 23.000 employees working at airports in Berlin-Brandenburg, Bremen, Cologne / Bonn, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipzig-Halle, Munich and Stuttgart have begun strike action. All flights scheduled to arrive and depart from these 11 airports on March 10 will be severely disrupted or cancelled, before industrial action ends on March 11.

The sweeping airport strike is part of a wider wave of industrial action by Germany’s public sector workers in recent weeks. In most striking sectors, which include staff working at Kitas, schools, rubbish disposal, water authorities, theatres and more, the German trade union ver.di is demanding employees receive an 8 percent (or 350 euro) rise in monthly wages.

"We regret the inconvenience that this strike will cause for passengers," ver.di representative Christine Behle said in a press release, “but without the pressure of industrial action, there will be no movement in the negotiations”. 

“We feel forced into this warning strike because the employers have not yet made an offer in the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations for public sector employees and have shown no willingness to meet our legitimate demands,” the ver.di press release explained.

What should passengers do during the airport strike?

In Germany, airlines, not airports, are responsible for cancelling flights. For this reason, any passengers planning to travel on March 10 should regularly check if they have received updated information from their relevant airline about whether their flight will go ahead, is delayed or is cancelled.

Under EU law, if your flight is delayed, your right to reimbursement depends on the length of your delay. If your flight is cancelled, you are entitled to full reimbursement or a re-routed return. You can find out more about EU air passenger rights here.

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