Source: Asia Cargo News; Reuters; Bloomberg
Date: 16th February 2023
Munich Airport has announced that it is halting all passenger flight services on Friday, February 17, over a strike that will “massively affect” the gateway.
Due to the strike, Munich Airport said it requested the Bavarian State Ministry of Housing, Construction and Transportation, as the highest aviation supervisory authority, to exempt the airport from the obligation to operate commercial flights that day.
“This request has been approved, thus, there will be no scheduled passenger flights from 00:00 a.m. on Friday to 01:00 a:m. on Saturday,” Munich Airport said.
Munich Airport — southern Germany’s largest cargo hub, which accounts for more than a third of Germany’s overall air freight volume — noted that the united services union ver.di has announced nationwide strike actions in connection with the ongoing collective wage negotiations in the public services sector.
“Munich Airport will also be massively affected by this. The strike will take place this coming Friday, February 17, 2023, and will last all day,” it added.
The halting of all passenger flight services will affect more than 700 takeoffs and landings, the gateway said.
Meanwhile, it noted that not affected are all special flights, such as those for the Munich Security Conference, aid flights and flights for medical, technical and other emergencies.
“The nationwide strikes announced at several airports in Germany no longer have anything to do with the instrument of a warning strike. With this, ver.di is completely overstepping the mark and is carrying out the wage dispute on the backs of passengers,” said the CEO of Munich Airport and president of the German Air Transport Association (BDL).
“The wage dispute must be resolved at the negotiating table and not in the terminals at the expense of passengers.”
Munich Airport urged passengers to contact their airline for further information.
In a separate notice, the airport reiterated that regular flight operations would be suspended.
“The service sector union ver.di has called for strike action at Munich Airport in connection with the ongoing collective bargaining disputes in the public sector,” it said. “According to the announcement, the strike will take place from 0:00 a.m. on Friday, the 17th, to 1 a.m. on Saturday, the 18th.”
“Regular flight operations will be suspended. Please check with your airline about the status of your flight,” Munich Airport said.