A workers’ strike at Frankfurt Airport has led to the closure of the airport for the entire day today and the resultant chaos in flight connections has reached ITB in Berlin where participants, especially from long-haul destinations are struggling to find alternative flights home.

The news that Germany’s busiest airport Frankfurt will remain closed to passengers on Thursday following a strike by the security staff, called by the workers’ union, Verdi, caused total chaos on Day 2 of the ongoing travel trade fair ITB Berlin as many participants, especially from the long-haul destinations, spent a large part of the day on Wednesday trying to find alternative means of getting back home.

The Tourism Minister of a South East Asian nation cancelled all his meetings on Wednesday as he scrambled for a flight since he was meant to leave on Thursday, while representatives of tourism companies from around the world spent hours on telephone with Lufthansa and other carriers to find out about their own flights.

Most participants fear that not only with the chaos at Frankfurt Airport spread on to Friday but it could take the entire weekend for the situation to return to normal.

Incidentally, the world’s largest tourism fair ITB Berlin 2024 opened on Tuesday at Messe Berlin fairgrounds, with a record number of 5,500 exhibitors representing 170 countries. According to a press statement by the organisers, the presence of over 1,300 buyers as well as booking of 87 pc of the available exhibition space have propelled ITB Berlin 2024 to new heights. This means tens of thousands of people from all over the world are currently in Berlin attending the fair. A fair share of them have travelled long-haul to get to Berlin and their journeys back home are almost certain to be impacted as the fair ends today and many of the departures planned for tonight or tomorrow.

In response to the call for strike on Thursday by Germany’s powerful union, Verdi, the operator of Frankfurt Airport, Fraport, said in a statement on Wednesday that it was asking all passengers to not to come to the airport.

‘‘Fraport is asking all passengers starting their journey in Frankfurt not to come to the airport on March 7 and to contact their airline,’’ the statement said.

‘‘The strike will cause major disruptions and flight cancelations throughout the day. Security checkpoints will remain closed. Originating passengers departing from Frankfurt will thus not be able to pass through the legally required security checks,’’ it added.

Incidentally, today, Germany faces strike action on multiple aspects of transport as national rail drivers are staging a walkout and Lufthansa ground staff has also planned a complete nationwide shut down.

The precise impact on the flight schedule was initially unclear, but planes are still expected to land and transferring passengers are still expected to be able to change flights at Frankfurt. A total of 1,170 departures and landings had been scheduled for Thursday, carrying around 160,000 passengers.

Precise cancelations and changes will depend on the respective airlines, says Fraport, adding that as many as 650 flights had already been cancelled by Wednesday morning. Germany’s flag carrier and Frankfurt Airport’s biggest customer Lufthansa is also set to be hit by strikes on Friday.

It is the latest wave of industrial action to hit Europe’s largest economy, where high inflation and worker shortages have put a strain on wage negotiations, leading to repeated strikes in the travel sector.