Germany was hit by another round of strikes, this time at three fronts simultaneously, as train drivers, airport security workers and Lufthansa ground staff walked off the job on Thursday, spelling further headaches for millions of travelers in Europe's largest economy.
The strikes are the latest in a wave of industrial actions to hit Germany, where high inflation and staff bottlenecks have soured wage negotiations in key parts of the transport sector, including national rail, air travel and public transport.
Train drivers began fresh strikes at 2 a.m. (1 a.m. GMT) on Thursday, with national rail operator Deutsche Bahn warning travelers that it could run only a small fraction of its usual services.
During the previous strike in late January, Deutsche Bahn was able to operate one in five services.
The latest walkout, set to last 35 hours, marks the beginning of a wave of rail strikes planned by the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) as it pushes for reduced working hours at full pay.
Deutsche Bahn has accused the union of refusing to compromise.
Airports in Frankfurt, Germany's busiest air hub and Hamburg canceled their departing flights on Thursday because of the striking security workers.
The airport association ADV said strikes in the aviation sector were damaging Germany's reputation as a center for business and tourism. It estimated that Thursday's strike would affect the travel plans of more than 250,000 people.
The industry has warned about the costs of such strikes after Europe's largest economy contracted by 0.3% in 2023 and the government warned of a weaker-than-expected recovery.
A one-day nationwide rail strike costs around 100 million euros ($107 million) in economic output, Michael Groemling, head of financial affairs at IW Koeln, told Reuters during GDL's last strike in late January.
The Verdi union is organizing that strike, as well as another by Lufthansa's ground staff on Thursday and Friday.
Further woes were brewing for Germany's flag airline after its cabin crews voted on Wednesday to strike, with the UFO union representing them assessing next steps.
Reporting its annual results on Thursday, Lufthansa warned that strikes were one factor leading to a higher-than-expected operating loss in the first three months of 2024.
The company warned its operating losses in the first quarter would widen and gave a subdued outlook for this year as it struggles with costly labor disputes, offsetting the travel boom.
The airline said operating results this year would be on par with 2023, but CFO Remco Steenbergen said there was "no hard commitment" to meet a target for operating margins to hit 8% for the year. They were 7.6% in 2023.
Steenbergen said the company would try to get "as close as possible" to the 8% target and would broadly keep it even if Lufthansa doesn't achieve it this year.
Shares were down 1.4% at 9:22 a.m. GMT.
Despite the flat operating result expected in 2024, the company said its results were strong enough to propose issuing a dividend of 0.30 euros a share, to be voted on at the annual general meeting on May 7. The group has not issued a dividend since 2019.
The results come almost two weeks after the airline announced the surprise departure of Steenbergen, which knocked its share price and rattled investor confidence.
However, operating profits for 2023 were up 76% from 1.5 billion euros in 2022. Revenues of 35.4 billion euros were up almost 15% but were lower than the 36.3 billion euros expected in a company-issued poll.
