Germany’s services union Ver.di has called an immediate walk-out by ground-handling and security staff at Hamburg Airport beginning late on 26 December and lasting through at least the morning of 27 December. The surprise action, timed to increase leverage ahead of wage talks scheduled for mid-March, forced dozens of flight cancellations and diversions just as post-Christmas traffic began to ramp up.
Airport operator HAM reported that passenger-security lanes were operating with a skeleton crew, causing lines of more than two hours at peak times. Airlines including Eurowings and Lufthansa pre-emptively cancelled domestic rotations to Frankfurt and Munich and advised travellers to re-book free of charge or switch to rail where possible. Cargo flights carrying high-value medical supplies were prioritised, but forwarders experienced delays of up to 12 hours in releasing freight from bonded warehouses.
![Ver.di Calls Short-Notice Strike at Hamburg Airport, Disrupting Post-Holiday Travel]()
For travellers suddenly needing to reroute through alternate airports or amend documentation on short notice, VisaHQ can remove one layer of stress. Its Germany portal (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) provides real-time visa checks, express processing, and passport-renewal assistance, ensuring passengers stay compliant even when strike disruption forces rapid itinerary changes.
For mobility teams, the strike highlights a growing pattern of last-minute labour actions in Germany’s transport sector. Under German law, unions are not obliged to provide lengthy strike notice, meaning contingency planning is essential. Corporations should maintain live feeds from airport and rail operators, hold flexible hotel allocations in Hamburg’s city centre, and have pre-approved car-service contracts ready for emergency surface transfers to Bremen or Hannover airports.
Ver.di is demanding inflation-matching pay increases and improved shift rosters for security staff. Employers, represented by the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS), say wage costs have already risen by 18 percent since 2022. With negotiations unlikely to resume before March, further “warning strikes” at other German airports cannot be ruled out.
Airport operator HAM reported that passenger-security lanes were operating with a skeleton crew, causing lines of more than two hours at peak times. Airlines including Eurowings and Lufthansa pre-emptively cancelled domestic rotations to Frankfurt and Munich and advised travellers to re-book free of charge or switch to rail where possible. Cargo flights carrying high-value medical supplies were prioritised, but forwarders experienced delays of up to 12 hours in releasing freight from bonded warehouses.
For travellers suddenly needing to reroute through alternate airports or amend documentation on short notice, VisaHQ can remove one layer of stress. Its Germany portal (https://www.visahq.com/germany/) provides real-time visa checks, express processing, and passport-renewal assistance, ensuring passengers stay compliant even when strike disruption forces rapid itinerary changes.
For mobility teams, the strike highlights a growing pattern of last-minute labour actions in Germany’s transport sector. Under German law, unions are not obliged to provide lengthy strike notice, meaning contingency planning is essential. Corporations should maintain live feeds from airport and rail operators, hold flexible hotel allocations in Hamburg’s city centre, and have pre-approved car-service contracts ready for emergency surface transfers to Bremen or Hannover airports.
Ver.di is demanding inflation-matching pay increases and improved shift rosters for security staff. Employers, represented by the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS), say wage costs have already risen by 18 percent since 2022. With negotiations unlikely to resume before March, further “warning strikes” at other German airports cannot be ruled out.
