A strike by public sector workers in Germany caused several hundred domestic and international flights to be cancelled and local transport in some locations to be suspended on Tuesday.
A strike by fire service personnel at the Cologne Bonn Airport in western Germany meant that there were no planes taking off or landing on Tuesday morning.
Airline Lufthansa said some 90,000 of its passengers would be affected by the cancellations.
Instead of 1,600 flights to airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Bremen, only 800 would go ahead.
A total of 58 intercontinental flights have also been cancelled.
Labour union Verdi said that ground traffic personnel and customer support would also be affected by the so-called “warning strikes,” called as part of a pay dispute.
Berlin’s Tegel airport saw about 70 domestic flights cancelled by Lufthansa and its subsidiary Eurowings; about 40 domestic flights were cancelled in the state of Lower Saxony and the northern city of Bremen.
The one-day action is also affecting local transport, public swimming pools, childcare and legal services.
Verdi said that train and bus services in cities such as Dortmund, Duisburg, Cologne and Essen would be cancelled until late at night.
The Cologne transport operator KVB relayed messages on its screens on Tuesday that “No trains will run today.’’
Germany’s most populous state, North-Rhine Westphalia – where Cologne is located – was spared major disruption from the strikes, according to police and transport authorities, who reported normal levels of traffic on the roads.
Lufthansa Personnel Chief, Bettina Volkens slammed the escalation in the dispute over public sector pay, noting on Monday that the airline itself was not involved in the row.
Negotiations over the pay dispute are set to continue on Sunday.
The unions are seeking pay rises of six per cent for some 2.3 million public sector workers across the country. (dpa/NAN)
