No regular passenger flights took off from Cologne Bonn Airport today, Monday 10 March, due to the all-day warning strikes called by the trade union ver.di. A total of 152 passenger flights (77 departures and 75 arrivals) were cancelled during the strike period between early Monday morning and early Tuesday morning. There were practically no departures with passengers from Cologne/Bonn due to the strike, with only a few incoming aircraft flying back without guests. The airlines had cancelled the majority of flights in advance, with a few being diverted. Originally, 172 passenger flights (91 take-offs, 81 landings) were planned.
The airport terminals were and are still almost deserted. Passengers were informed in advance by the airlines about cancellations and diversions and did not even attempt to travel to the airport. Around 20,000 travellers were affected and were unable to fly to or from Cologne/Bonn today as planned.
Ver.di had called on public-sector airport employees and the ground handling service staff to stop working from the early hours of Monday morning. This is to continue until early Tuesday morning.
Aviation security staff were also called to a token strike. Here, the strike began at 4 a.m. on Monday morning and, according to the union, is to end after 24 hours on Tuesday morning. In addition to passenger controls, the work stoppages also affect personnel and goods controls, meaning that employees of the airport and other companies at the location will only be able to access the security area with considerable delays.
Even after the strike is over, there may still be isolated disruptions or delays to the flight schedule. However, the airport expects operations to return to normal tomorrow, Tuesday 11 March.
