Luxair has cancelled flights to Hamburg
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On Sunday, Hamburg airport was almost completely closed: the flight board shows "cancelled" in red, passengers are waiting confusedly, not knowing what to do. The reason is an unexpected staff strike that started just 30 minutes before the announcement, just as the spring school holidays were starting in the region.
According to Katja Bromm, an airport spokeswoman, only ten flights out of 144 scheduled arrivals and 139 departures took place in the morning. The rest were cancelled. Around 40,000 passengers were affected, including Luxair passengers flying in and out that day.
Luxair cancelled flights to Berlin as early as Saturday, anticipating the scale of the strike that was to hit thirteen German airports on Monday, including Hamburg. However, the strike in Hamburg started early, putting the airport in an extremely difficult situation.
Katja Bromm harshly criticised the Verdi union's actions, calling them "irresponsible" and "insulting". "Nobody expected such a blow to passengers on the eve of the holidays. Only we start holidays - and only we start a strike," she was indignant.
Lars Stubbe, a Verdi union representative, admitted: "Yes, it's hard for passengers, but it's the suddenness of the strike that makes it effective". He explained that by giving advance warning, the administration can hire temporary workers and lessen the effect of the protest. And the aim is to put economic pressure on management, which has so far failed to offer any acceptable wage proposals after two unsuccessful rounds of negotiations.
The hope that airport operations would be restored by Monday will not materialise. Passenger departures have been cancelled completely as security and ground handling staff also join the strike. Flight arrivals are technically possible, but massive delays and cancellations are expected.
Passengers are advised not to go to the airport and to contact airlines in advance. The situation demonstrates the growing social tensions in key sectors in Germany and the effects are already being felt across Europe.
