If you’re travelling to, from or through Germany on the 15th January, you might want to reconsider your travel plans, with the Verdi union calling it’s security workers out on strike over a pay dispute.
This will impact a lot of the German airports including Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig/Halle, Dresden and Hamburg, with considerable disruption to the security screening process. However, the biggest disruption is reserved for Frankfurt Airport where it is expected security screening inside the transit area will remain active, but you will not be able to get cross from the land-side to air-side sections of the airport.
According to Lufthansa (whose primary hub is Frankfurt Airport)
If you start your journey in Frankfurt, you will not be able to reach your flight during the entire strike period. Lufthansa therefore asks you not to go to the airport and instead, if you have not yet done so, to use rebooking options.
The strike will run from 02:00-20:00CET through Frankfurt Airport… and let’s face it – it’s going to be a long day if you’re going anywhere near Frankfurt Airport.
Fraport (the operator of Frankfurt Airport) advises:
A strike by security staff at Frankfurt Airport has been announced for Tuesday, January 15. The strike activities are expected to cause major disruptions and flight cancellations throughout the day. In particular, the security checkpoints outside the transit area will remain closed during the strike, from the early morning hours until 8 p.m. Thus, originating passengers departing from Frankfurt will not be able to pass through the legally required security checks and get to their flights. We therefore strongly advise all originating passengers from Frankfurt to avoid coming to the airport. Please contact your airline or travel operator as soon as possible for information on your flight. We expect that transfer processes for connecting passengers in the transit area will still largely be possible. Nevertheless, also transfer passengers should expect disruptions and delays due to the strike. We kindly ask all affected passengers for their understanding.
Eurowings is advising to allow extra time to check in early, and arrive at the airport stating:
We therefore request that all passengers departing from Hamburg, Munich, Hannover, Leipzig-Halle and Dresden on 15 January to arrive at the airport as early as possible. We also ask that our passengers check as much of their luggage as possible – including cabin luggage – at the check-in counter. This will help avoid extended delays at the small number of security checkpoints that will be open. For the same reason, passengers should also not carry any liquids. For the duration of the strike, we will of course accept cabin luggage at the check-in counter and carry it free of charge.
Plan Ahead
Like any strike action, please plan ahead and use the rebooking tools where possible. If you’re planning to start, end your journey in Frankfurt or transit through the airport, make sure you’re well aware of the changes in security, and that you will not be able to go through security if you are starting your journey at Frankfurt.
Disruption pages
- Lufthansa: https://www.lufthansa.com/gb/en/flight-information
- Fraport: https://www.fraport.com/en/our-company.html
- Eurowings: https://www.eurowings.com/en/information/news-help/current-information.html
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