German airport strikes cause widespread disruption at Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf

Cologne Bonn Airport is also heavily impacted by the strike. Initially, it was reported that 46 take-offs and 29 landings would be disrupted during the strike period. With a total of 168 scheduled passenger flights during this time, this represented about 45% of operations. However, by this morning, the number of cancellations had increased significantly with 53 departures and arrivals each being canceled. This accounts for over 63% of scheduled operations at Cologne Bonn Airport during the strike period.

Due to these disruptions, Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn have topped FlightAware's rankings for delays and cancellations today. Despite this situation, Flightradar24 reports that flights still operating are doing so with minimal delays—an average of just 11 minutes at Cologne Bonn Airport and five minutes at Düsseldorf.

This marks another instance in a series of strikes affecting German airports in recent years. Today's industrial action is part of broader wage disputes involving public sector employees at both federal and municipal levels following unsuccessful negotiations last week. Ver.di is demanding an 8% pay rise along with bonuses for airport staff due to their stressful working conditions. Gabriele Schmidt, Regional Director for ver.di stated: "The employers' previous refusal to pay is hitting employees at airports [in North Rhine Westphalia] hard."