(ANSA-AFP) - FRANKFURT AM MAIN, FEB 1 - Tens of thousands of
passengers were grounded on Thursday as airport security staff
across Germany staged a walkout, the latest industrial action to
plague Europe's biggest economy. At least 1,100 flights were
cancelled in 11 airports, including the country's busiest
Frankfurt, and in capital Berlin, said the federation of German
airports ADV. At Frankfurt airport, 310 out of 1,120 arrival and
departing flights were scrapped and other cancellations could be
announced in the course of the day, a spokesman from operator
Fraport told AFP. Berlin airport said there would be no flights
departing on Thursday from the terminals which usually serve
about 50,000 passengers on average daily. Other airports
affected by the walkout called by union Verdi included Hamburg,
Bremen, Hanover, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden, Erfurt
and Stuttgart. "The strike began well" with a "good to very
good" level of participation, said Wolfgang Pieper, who is in
charge of salary negotiations at Verdi. (ANSA-AFP).
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