Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - The announced warning strike at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt began on Friday morning. According to the airport website, most flights have been canceled or postponed, or passengers within Germany are offered a train connection as an alternative. "The airport is at a standstill except for the cargo and relief supplies to Turkey and Syria," said Verdi spokesman Christoph Miemietz. Verdi had called for a warning strike to paralyze seven German airports.
The union members have officially been on strike since midnight, and the first strikers arrived in Frankfurt at 7 a.m. Around 500 people were already there in the morning, and between 2,000 and 3,000 strikers are expected.
Regular passenger operations will not be possible in Frankfurt on Friday, Fraport said. Emergency flights are excluded. In Frankfurt, 1005 flight movements were planned for Friday. Fraport spoke of 137,000 affected passengers. According to Miemietz, there were hardly any passengers at the airport on Friday morning. Fraport had already advised passengers on Wednesday not to come on the day of the strike.
In the collective bargaining dispute, Verdi and the civil servants' association DBB are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least 500 euros more for the approximately 2.5 million federal and local employees. The term should be twelve months. The employers have rejected the claims. Already on Wednesday there were delays and cancellations for tens of thousands of passengers with connections via Frankfurt. A cable damage on a Frankfurt S-Bahn line had led to a failure of the computer systems at Lufthansa.
