Major: Frankfurt Airport To Close To All Departures Tomorrow Amid German Security Strike Chaos

A widespread security strike is impacting some of Germany's busiest air hubs at the start of this week, including Frankfurt Airport. The situation is set to be so extreme tomorrow that Germany's largest airport won't handle any departing passengers for whom Frankfurt is their point of origin tomorrow. Let's examine the matter.

Almost a total shutdown at Frankfurt tomorrow

As reported by International Flight Network, security at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is set to be closed tomorrow between 02:00 and 23:00 local time. This 21-hour shutdown will severely hamper the facility's ability to process departing passengers, to the extent that it will effectively be closed for point-of-origin departures.

This means that Germany's largest and busiest airport will be eerily quiet tomorrow, with only transiting passengers able to come and go. Even these customers have still been warned to potentially expect some disruption by Fraport, the airport's operator. In a statement released by the company today, a spokesperson said: "We respect the right of the employees of the security service providers to strike. However, we have no sympathy for such a comprehensive strike that is carried out on the backs of the passengers. We appeal to the collective bargaining partners to return to the negotiating table and to find an amicable solution together."

Strike action has already commenced elsewhere

The planned industrial action in Frankfurt tomorrow marks part of a wider movement by airport security staff across Germany. According to Reuters, the Verdi labor union is campaigning for equal wages for security personnel across all of the country's airports, alongside a pay rise of at least €1 ($1.10) per hour.

At certain airports, the strike action has already begun today. As Verdi prepares to meet with the Bundesverband der Luftsicherheitsunternehmen (Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies) for wage talks, staff have walked out in Berlin, Bremen, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hannover, and Leipzig, causing disruption.

Indeed, taking a look at data from FlightAware, we can see that German airports and carriers are near the top of the pile when it comes to delays and canceled flights today. For example, 65 Eurowings flights have been canceled today, equating to 22% of its daily departures. The strikes have also impacted 38% and 25% of departures from Düsseldorf and Berlin Brandenburg respectively.

Other airports impacted tomorrow

As it happens, with the strike action set to continue tomorrow, Frankfurt isn't the only airport that will see a near-total close on Tuesday. Indeed, March 15th will also see closures to security checks (and, subsequently, to point-of-origin departing passengers) in Hamburg, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, and Stuttgart airports.

This is reflected in FlightAware's data for service tomorrow, with cancelations already having begun appearing in the site's database. At the time of writing, Frankfurt had 27 departures and 15 arrivals listed as canceled. Meanwhile, Hamburg and Stuttgart had seven and three canceled departures respectively. Of course, as the extent of the strikes becomes clear, these figures will likely rise.