Sunday, March 9, 2025 Air travel across Europe has been thrown into chaos as a sudden strike at Hamburg Airport in Germany cancels over eighty flights, disrupting major airlines including Air France, KLM, Ryanair, Brussels Airlines, Austrian, British Airways, easyJet, Swiss, Lufthansa, and more. The unexpected industrial action by ground handling staff, organized by the ver.di union, has forced a complete shutdown of departures and arrivals at one of Germany’s key airports.
Thousands of passengers are now stranded or facing rebooking challenges, with the disruption expected to spill into Monday, worsening travel uncertainty across the region. Travelers passing through Hamburg Airport (HAM) faced unexpected chaos on Sunday, March 9, as a sudden strike by aircraft handling services brought all flight operations to a standstill. The strike, called by the German trade union ver.
di , led to the complete closure of the airport, with all departures and arrivals canceled for the entire day . Unannounced Strike Grounds Flights Without prior warning, ver.di instructed ground handling staff to walk off the job early Sunday morning.
The result? Thousands of passengers found their travel plans disrupted, airlines were forced to cancel flights, and Hamburg Airport became eerily quiet. The timing of the strike—happening at the end of the weekend—left many travelers stranded, particularly those returning from holidays, business trips, or planning international connections. What Passeng.
