Flights scrapped as Berlin airport staff set to strike

berlin — Hundreds of German passengers were facing travel upheaval on Monday with security staff at Berlin’s two airports set to walk out in a pay dispute.

The action, called by the powerful Verdi union at the German capital’s Tegel and Schoenefeld airports, is due to start at 05:00 am (0400 GMT) and end at 8:45 am.

Some 80 flights are expected to be affected, according to DPA news agency, mostly at the city’s main Tegel airport.

German carrier Lufthansa said it was cancelling four flights on its Berlin-Frankfurt route and four more between Berlin and Munich. The roughly 850 passengers booked on those flights could use their tickets to travel by train instead, Lufthansa added.

“We regret that our passengers have to start the new year with disruptions,” Lufthansa board member Detlef Kayser told DPA. —