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STRIKES

UPDATE: German airports struck by travel chaos due to Friday strikes

For the third time in a month and the second time this week, the Verdi union has called for a walkout among ground staff at four German airports on Friday.

Published: 15 March 2023 17:17 CET
Updated: 17 March 2023 09:14 CET
Numerous flights are shown as cancelled on a screen at Düsseldorf Airport. The Verdi trade union has called on its members to stage warning strikes at airports in North Rhine-Westphalia and in the public sector.
Numerous flights are shown as cancelled on a screen at Düsseldorf Airport during a recent strike. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Federico Gambarini

This time, airports in Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Karlsruhe are experiencing travel chaos.

Passengers were told to expect delays and cancellations starting Friday morning at the four airports, when security and customs staff are expected to take part in the “warning strike.”

Flights taking off from five cities are affected – as Cologne and Bonn share an airport.

Stuttgart Airport has already cancelled all departures and arrivals for Friday, with regular operations due to resume Saturday. The airport is advising affected passengers to contact their airline directly and not come to the airport Friday.

As part of an agreement with the its workers’ union, Düsseldorf Airport is running a minimal, emergency service on Friday – so some flights will still go ahead, but will be severely disrupted. Many will still be cancelled altogether. Passengers are urged to check their flight’s status and to keep hand luggage to a minimum to speed up security screening – which will likely see severe delays. 

Cologne-Bonn, meanwhile, is expected to see cancellations and delays on both Friday and Saturday – due to how the shift schedules there work with the timing of the strike. Full service isn’t expected to resume there until Saturday afternoon. The airport says passengers should expect several cancellations, and to check directly with their airline to make any necessary alternative arrangements.

READ ALSO: What are your rights in Germany if a flight is delayed or cancelled?

The Verdi union, which called the strikes, is demanding a 10.5 percent pay rise – or an increase of at least €500 a month – for the public sector and aviation security employees it represents, to address rising cost of living.

Already this week, it brought air traffic going out of airports in Berlin, Hanover, Hamburg, and Bremen to a standstill. Only weeks ago, it staged walkouts at nine German airports, meaning that some of the affected airports this week have already seen their second strike in the space of a month.

The union’s warning strikes are being staged to put pressure on employers before the next round of collective bargaining on March 27th to 29th, following previous rounds that have broken down  – with the exception of a deal Deutsche Post recently struck with postal workers.

Verdi’s head in Baden-Württemberg, Hanna Binder, said of the strikes: “Without better working conditions, we will no longer find enough people willing to take up these jobs on ground crews.” These jobs are essential for air traffic safety in Germany, she added.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why are there so many strikes in Germany right now?

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TRAVEL NEWS

How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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