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STRIKES

Lufthansa strike causes travel turmoil in Germany

Lufthansa passengers faced massive travel disruption Wednesday as a strike led the German airline group to cancel almost all its flights from its domestic hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.

Passengers at Frankfurt airport on Wednesday during the strike.
Passengers at Frankfurt airport on Wednesday during the strike. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Rumpenhorst

Lufthansa axed more than 1,000 flights after the one-day walkout by ground staff was called by the powerful Verdi union earlier in the week.

The stoppage promises to bring more pain to a turbulent summer for air travel across Europe.

Lufthansa had already cancelled thousands of flights over the summer as the airline industry contends with ground-side disruptions.

The relaxation of coronavirus rules has boosted demand, but chronic staff shortages have left passengers facing flight disruptions, long queues and lost luggage.

“Lufthansa reduced its staffing during the (coronavirus) crisis, despite being saved by the taxpayer, and now there are personnel shortages in all corners,” said Verdi Lufthansa representative Marvin Reschinsky.

Strikers stand outside Frankfurt airport.

Strikers stand outside Frankfurt airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Frank Rumpenhorst

“We now need financial investments in personnel to make sure air travel is still possible in the future,” he told AFP.

READ ALSO: Flights disrupted across Germany as ground staff strike begins

Participation in the strike was “enormous”, he said, reflecting the financial pressure employees feel from a recent surge in inflation, which
stood at 7.6 percent in Germany last month.

Ground staff had “earned” a raise, said Katharina Horn, a Lufthansa employee.

After two years of the pandemic which battered the industry and led to long work stoppages for employees “all the savings are used up”, she told AFP.

“We would have liked not to have to go out into the streets today. Lufthansa could have avoided that by making a reasonable offer,” she said.

The strike was “wholly unnecessary” and had destroyed the “holiday dreams of more than 100,000 people”, said Lufthansa spokesman, Martin Leutke.

READ ALSO: How the Lufthansa ground crew strikes at German airports could affect you

Lufthansa was seeking to find alternatives for stranded passengers but Leutke warned that the process was “not easy in the peak travel period because all the flights are full”.

“I wanted to go to Tunis but the flight is cancelled,” Adel Zayani said to AFP, adding that he would now have to wait for a flight tomorrow.

The strike was “good for people, workers” who needed to earn money but “not easy” for passengers, said the 56-year-old.

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WILDLIFE

Southern Germany sees explosion of mosquitos after floods

First flooding, and now a plague of mosquitos: hoards of the annoying bloodsuckers are spreading on Lake Constance. Here's what to expect if you are visiting the region.

Southern Germany sees explosion of mosquitos after floods

After severe floods in southern Germany, conditions are ripe for mosquito populations to explode, according to an expert in the region. 

Rainer Bretthauer, environmental and climate protection officer at the city of Radolfzell on Lake Constance, told DPA that the popular holiday location is already seeing signs of a mosquito plague.

 Bretthauer said that the floods have offered perfect conditions for egg laying, resulting in masses of mosquito offspring.

People living around the area or visiting should be prepared, Bretthauer said. He suggested, for instance, wearing loose-fitting and long clothing.

Timing also plays a role when you’re outside. “They tend to bite during twilight hours when the temperature is higher than 18C,” he said. 

Mosquitos ‘not a bad thing for wildlife’

While growing mosquito hoards may ruin peoples’ camping trips and planned lake vacations, for local wildlife, the mosquitos are a good thing, according to the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu).

“All the insects that are now developing are a very important food source for many fish species and also for birds,” said Eberhard Klein from Nabu in Constance.

Around 50 species of mosquitoes are known in Germany. Some of them are counted among the so-called floodwater mosquitoes, which increasingly hatch after flooding.

According to experts, these mosquitos are particularly zealous blood hunters, as they have to reproduce quickly before the favourable conditions disappear again.

Floodwater mosquitoes like to lay their eggs on moist soil, often in riparian zones and floodplains. There they can survive in the soil for several years.

When these zones flood and the temperature is favourable, the eggs develop and hatch mosquitos. Therefore large-scale flooding, as seen recently in Southern Germany, can lead to mass hatching.

Mosquito borne illness is spreading to Europe as temperatures warm

Warming temperatures brought by human-caused climate change have allowed mosquito populations to extend further northward in Europe, including disease-carrying species that were previously limited to regions closer to the equator.

For example, the Asian tiger mosquito is not native to Europe but has already been observed in much of southern and central Europe, including Germany.

Tiger mosquitos are particularly concerning because they are known to spread diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika virus. Mass outbreaks of these infections have been rising globally. Last year local Dengue outbreaks were recorded in France, Italy and Spain.

With reporting by DPA

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