Travel professionals returning from the world’s largest B2b travel event, ITB Berlin, , including government ministers, have had to reschedule flights due to a two-pronged transport strike in Germany which hit Lufthansa flights. This is the third time in ten years that ITB has been targetted or affected by transport strikes.
In addition to the 60-hour strike for Lufthansa ground staff from Wednesday 6 March at 8pm to Saturday 9 March at 7.10am, Verdi withdrew labour at security checkpoints in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Hamburg on 7 March, although Berlin airport remained open. The security checkpoints outside the transit areas at the four affected airports were closed.
The Lufthansa ground staff strike continues today. It will affect 10pc-20pc of Lufthansa flights and will end on Saturday morning (09 March) at 7:10 am CET. No Lufthansa rotations to Ireland are affected today. An inbound Aer Lingus and Ryanair flight were also affected on Thursday.
The two-day strike by Lufthansa airline ground staff has coincided with a 35-hour strike by train drivers. Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said only 20pc of long-distance trains were running.
Lufthansa said: Due to the strike, we currently assume that only around 10 to 20 percent of the Lufthansa Airline flight programme can be operated. Passengers who are affected by flight cancellations because of the Verdi strike will be informed by email or via the Lufthansa app. We regret the inconvenience for our guests. Please only come to the airport if your flight has not been cancelled. Due to the strike, the rebooking counters are unfortunately not staffed. If you want to cancel your trip, you can cancel your booking via our chat assistant and we will refund you the full ticket price. Alternatively, you can rebook your journey free of charge via our chat assistant. Of course, you can also contact our Service Centre on +49 69 86799799. If you are calling from outside Germany, you can find our international service numbers here.”
