Union stages surprise strike at Germany's Hamburg airport, a day earlier than scheduled

Hamburg Airport in Germany came to a halt on Sunday, a day before trade union ver.di said it would stage strikes at 13 major German airports on Monday.

Out of the 144 arrivals and 139 departures originally planned at Hamburg Airport on Sunday, only 10 flights weren't cancelled in the morning.

Frustrated passengers called the surprise strike "outrageous".

"There was supposed to be a big strike tomorrow, why is it now today?" a traveller said.

The trade union's secretary Lars Stubbe said the unannounced nature of the strike was necessary for the strike to be effective.

"We called the strike at such short notice because our experience with longer-term calls is that the employer tries to break the strike with massive action," Stubbe said.

"Of course, this is a burden for passengers, and our colleagues know that. Nevertheless, they followed the strike call 100%," he added.

The United Services Trade Union (ver.di) has called on employees in the aviation security sector to hold 24-hour warning strikes at 13 major German airports, starting early on Monday morning.

The strikes at the other airports are still supposed go ahead on Monday - but there is no way of knowing whether passengers at any of these airports are in for a nasty surprise later on Sunday if more strikes are called ahead of time.

It is predicted that more than half a million people will not be able to catch their flight on Monday as planned, with more than 3,400 expected flight cancellations, according to German Airports Association ADV.

Many of the cancellations will be at Frankfurt and Munich airports, the two largest in Germany.

In a statement, the union said the strikes are necessary to "improve the working conditions of the approximately 25,000 employees."

"The strike will take place at the airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Weeze, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and Munich," the union confirmed.