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Dubai: Emirates cancels some flights to Germany ahead of planned workers' strike
Travellers have been advised to contact their booking agents if they would like to change their flight schedule
- PUBLISHED: Sun 9 Mar 2025, 11:35 AM
Dubai's local carrier Emirates cancelled and delayed multiple flights to Germany amid a planned workers' strike on March 10 at the Frankfurt Airport.
The airline said the flights were impacted due to 'planned industrial action' at the airport and customers affected by cancellations and delays will be automatically rebooked and notified by Emirates.
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Nearly all of Germany's airports will be hit by a 24-hour strike on Monday, likely impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers, after trade union Verdi called for employees in the public sector and ground handling to walk out.
The following flights have been cancelled:
Flight EK43 on March 10 from Dubai to Frankfurt has been cancelled.
Flight EK44 on March 10 from Frankfurt to Dubai has been cancelled.
Flight EK46 on March 10 from Frankfurt to Dubai has been cancelled.
Meanwhile, flight EK48 on March 10 from Frankfurt to Dubai has been delayed and will operate as EK8048 on March 11. This flight will depart from Frankfurt on March 11 at 5.30pm local time and arrive in Dubai on March 12 at 3am UAE time.
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The following flights will operate as scheduled:
Flight EK45 on March 10 from Dubai to Frankfurt will operate as scheduled.
Flights EK47 on March 10 from Dubai to Frankfurt will operate as scheduled.
The airline also warned that travellers may face delays at Hamburg, Munich and Düsseldorf.
Passengers flying by Emirates to and from Hamburg, Munich or Düsseldorf on March 10 can choose to either rebook flights to travel at an earlier time, or travel to and from an alternative airport within the same region. To rebook, tickets must have been issued before March 8.
Travellers have been advised to contact their booking agents if they would like to change their flight schedule. Those who have booked directly with Emirates can contact the airline for any assistance.
Planned strike
The planned strike marks a major escalation in negotiations after Verdi staged several walk-outs at some airports in Germany, including a two-day strike at Munich, last month.
The union warned in a statement on Friday that passengers should prepare for massive restrictions on departures and arrivals, including flight cancellations.
The association of Germany's airport operators ADV said the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people would be disrupted. The short notice also means that "passengers will hardly have a chance to find alternative routes".
The country's two busiest airports — Frankfurt and Munich — were scheduled to operate 2,000 flights on Monday, a spokesperson for the ADV airport association told Reuters.
Frankfurt Airport said there would very likely be no departures from Germany's main hub. It advised passengers to refrain from coming to the airport and called on those transferring through the airport to check the flight status on their airline's website.
More than 150,000 passengers would be affected, it added.
Other airports affected on Monday include Stuttgart, Cologne/Bonn and Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin and Leipzig-Halle.
Germany's air traffic control operator, DFS, said it would not be directly affected by the strikes.
The union, which is demanding an eight per cent wage increase, or at least an increase of 350 euros ($380) more per month, as well as higher bonuses and additional time off, said it called the warning strike after a second round of collective bargaining failed last month.
Employers have rejected the demands as unaffordable. Negotiations are due to continue later this month.
Inputs from Reuters