What travellers need to know about German airport strikes on Friday

Tens of thousands of airline passengers are facing both cancellations and delays Friday. The trade union Verdi has announced a strike at the popular airports of Bremen, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Munich and Stuttgart. The strike will last all day Friday before ending at 1:00 am on Saturday.

According to the German airport association ADV, the warning strike has led to 2,340 flight cancellations, affecting over 300,000 passengers. "Passengers are becoming the pawn of Verdi's strike tactics," the association said, speaking of an "unprecedented escalation". 

Lufthansa alone had to cancel 1,300 of its flights, following an IT outage that grounded or re-routed most of its traffic on Wednesday.

READ ALSO: More than 2,000 flights cancelled in Germany as airport workers strike

In an ongoing collective bargaining dispute, Verdi and the civil servants' association DBB are demanding 10.5 percent more income, but at least €500 more for approximately 2.5 million public employees, to offset rising inflation.

Employers have continued to reject the demands, with the next round of negotiations set to take place in Potsdam on February 23rd and 24th. 

READ ALSO: Why Germany could soon see widespread public sector strikes

Which airports are particularly affected?

Frankfurt airport, the largest in Germany and second busiest in Europe, warned in a press statement that "regular airport operations cannot be guaranteed.”

A full 1,005 flights were planned for Friday in Frankfurt, and operator Fraport said 137,000 passengers were affected. Arrival and departure boards for Frankfurt on Friday morning show the vast majority of flights as having been cancelled, with some replacement train services going to some German cities, including Munich, Düsseldorf, and Bremen.

"Passengers wishing to begin their journey in Frankfurt will not be able to reach their flight,” it added. Travelers are therefore strongly advised to "refrain from travelling to the airport". 

Munich airport has also announced that it will be striking 700 flights on Friday. The strike is taking place at the start of the Munich Security Conference, one of the most important meetings on security policy worldwide. Yet flights for the conference are exempt from the suspension of normal passenger operations in Munich, the airport stressed. 

The conference is working to be able to guarantee the arrival of participants, it added.

READ ALSO: Munich airport cancels over 700 flights Friday due to strike action

Airport employees put up a strike notice at Hamburg Airport for Friday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Bodo Marks | Bodo Marks

Stuttgart, Hanover, Hamburg, and Bremen Airports have cancelled all arrivals and departures and generally advise passengers not to come to the airport, but to contact their airlines directly.

Dortmund Airport has diverted many of both its departures and arrivals to nearby airports, including to Paderborn and Cologne-Bonn. Passengers should check the status of their flight and contact their airline as necessary.

At all of the airports, relief deliveries for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria are to be exempt from the strike action.

What are my alternatives?

Before giving up their flights, travellers should first contact their airline, which is required to notify passengers about flight cancellations and rebookings. An airport can only issue warnings.

In many cases, airlines will automatically rebook customers on a later flight, most likely on Saturday when traffic resumes. Some will provide meals and accommodation as necessary.

READ ALSO: What are your rights in Germany if a flight is delayed or cancelled?

For flights within Germany, train travel is another alternative, and Lufthansa had already booked train travel for some passengers booked on flights to some nearby cities, like Düsseldorf, Cologne, and Bremen.

But take note that the prices continue to go up for a ticket.

For example, a ticket from Munich to Berlin with an ICE Sprinter went up from €55 to €175 after the strikes were announced on Tuesday evening. As of Thursday morning, this remained the price, with Deutsche Bahn’s booking website warning of a “high passenger load expected”.

For a ticket from Munich to Cologne, where Carnival celebrations began on Thursday, second-class tickets were as high as €171 on Thursday morning, up from €124.20 on Monday before the strikes were announced. Throughout Germany on Friday, Deutsche Bahn expects a high passenger load on all ICE, EC and IC routes.

Train passengers must therefore prepare not only for higher prices but also for long waiting times. It will be busier than usual at train stations, likely with queues to board trains, so travelers should be sure to arrive early and to reserve a seat. The same advice applies to drivers, who should brace themselves for traffic jams and carpool whenever possible.

Who is most affected?

Many people in Germany wanted to start their so-called ‘Faschungsferien’ (Carnival vacations) on Friday, which begin with the end of school classes in Bavaria and Saarland. 

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia, on the other hand, winter vacations end on Sunday. Many families had planned to return home on Friday at the latest. 

Friday is in general a popular travel day in Germany, with many people beginning their ‘Feierabend’ (time off of work) earlier in the afternoon.