FRANKFURT -Airlines cancelled hundreds of flights to and from German airports on Monday as security workers across the country went on strike amid a wage dispute.
Security workers are staging a full-day walkout at airports including Duesseldorf, Cologne/Bonn and Berlin on Monday, and further strikes have been called for Tuesday, among others in Frankfurt and Hamburg.
In Duesseldorf, around 160 flights have been cancelled for Monday, which is more than half of the planned 290 departures and arrivals, the airport said in a statement.
At Cologne/Bonn, 94 out of 136 flights have been called off, the airport said. Berlin airport's website also showed many cancelled flights.
On Tuesday, no departing passengers will be able to board their flights at Frankfurt airport, Germany's biggest, only passengers who are in transit, operator Fraport said.
Around 770 departures and arrivals were initially scheduled for Tuesday, serving close to 80,000 passengers, according to Fraport.
Labour union Verdi demands that employers raise the wages of airport security staff by at least 1 euro an hour for the next 12 months and that staff in different parts of Germany earn the same.
BDLS, the association of aviation safety companies, said all of Verdi's demands amounted to increases of up to 40% and were "utopian".
A next round of wage talks has been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, the two parties said.