Germany hit by new wave of airport and train strikes

Germany has again been hit by a double wave of strikes in the transport sector, as train drivers and aeroplane cabin crews stopped work on Tuesday in ongoing wage disputes.

Around 80% of long-distance trains were cancelled on Tuesday as train drivers from the state-owned rail company Deutsche Bahn went on strike.

At major air hubs Frankfurt and Munich, tens of thousands passengers were having to reschedule their flights due to a two-day strike by the cabin crew union

Ufo at Lufthansa. Individual flights were also cancelled at other locations such as the capital's BER airport.

The two unions had not co-ordinated their actions. Despite this, it was the second time in just a few days that both Lufthansa and Deutsche Bahn workers went on strike.

A German appeals court will consider Deutsche Bahn's effort to block the strike by train drivers in a hearing at midday on Tuesday.

A lower court in Frankfurt earlier rejected the railway's lawsuit to halt the ongoing strike. The Hessian State Labour Court then announced it would consider Deutsche Bahn's appeal as a matter of urgency on Tuesday.

The strike in Deutsche Bahn's passenger transport began at 2 am (0100 GMT) on Tuesday and is expected to last 24 hours, a railway spokeswoman confirmed.

The railway has organized an emergency timetable to secure about a fifth of long-distance train services. Regional services and Deutsche Bahn's suburban trains are also affected.

This is the sixth industrial action by train drivers' union GDL in the current round of collective bargaining.

Meanwhile, flight attendants of German carrier Lufthansa at Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport went on strike early on Tuesday, the cabin crew union Ufo said.

The action at Germany's busiest airport started at 4 am (0300 GMT) and was due to last until 11 pm, a union spokeswoman confirmed.

Some 600 flights were expected to be cancelled due to the industrial action, according to the national carrier, affecting 70,000 passengers.

Just hours later, Lufthansa cabin crew at Munich Airport were set to strike from 4 am to 11 pm on Wednesday. Lufthansa estimates that that strike would result in 400 flights being cancelled and some 50,000 passengers unable to take off.

At the weekend, Ufo had called on the approximately 19,000 flight attendants at German carrier Lufthansa and its subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline to go on strike.

More than 96% of cabin crew of the core company and at Lufthansa Cityline had previously voted for industrial action in separate strike ballots, Ufo said.

Ufo is asking for a 15% increase in pay for flight assistants and also wants an inflation compensation bonus of €3,000 ($3,280).

This is one of several current wage disputes for Lufthansa. Last week, ground staff organized by another union, Verdi, paralyzed much of Lufthansa's passenger traffic with what was now their fifth wave of industrial action. Negotiations with Verdi are due to resume on Wednesday.