Lufthansa, Air Berlin cut flights

Lufthansa and Air Berlin scrapped more than 460 flights worldwide yesterday because of a strike by baggage handlers and security staff at the country's main airports. More than 80 per cent of the flights cancelled by Lufthansa affected takeoffs and landings at the company's primary hub in Frankfurt, according to information on the airline's website. Air Berlin dropped 29 flights nationwide because of the strikes, the airline said on its website. Fraport, which operates Frankfurt airport, said one-third of flights had been scrapped. "We are affected by some delays and have 445 cancellations at Frankfurt airport today [Tuesday]," Mike Peter Schweitzer, a spokesman for Fraport, said. But we have basic handling possibilities for flights despite the strikes and still have 1,300 planned flight movements." Airports in Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Dortmund, Duesseldorf and Stuttgart are also affected by the walkouts led by the Verdi labour union in a public-sector pay dispute. Strikes have also affected kindergartens, trash-collection, power stations, hospitals and public offices across Germany this month as Verdi seeks wage increases for about 2 million federal, state and municipal employees. The walkouts are separate from strikes that ground controllers held at Frankfurt airport last month that Fraport estimated reduced passenger numbers by 170,000 travellers. Frankfurt airport handles 140,000 to 150,000 passengers daily, Schweitzer said.