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Airport strike suspended

February 22, 2012

The air traffic workers' union GdF has called off a five-day strike at Frankfurt airport, after airport operator Fraport offered to hold fresh talks. The striking workers began returning to work Wednesday evening.

https://p.dw.com/p/147fq
Lufthansa plane lands at Frankfurt airport
Image: dapd

A five-day strike by air traffic workers at Frankfurt airport has been called off after airport operator Fraport signaled it was prepared to hold fresh talks.

"We examined the letter and informed Fraport of our willingness to resume talks," Michael Schaefer, head of the GdF union told the AFP news agency.

Markus Siebers, a GdF board member, said that the first group of striking air traffic controllers resumed work at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. No further industrial action would be taken unless one of the two sides broke off the new round of talks, which are set to begin Thursday morning.

The move came after GdF had threatened Fraport on Tuesday with extending the strike to the end of the week. Hundreds of flights have been canceled or delayed since the strike began last Thursday, but the airport's contingency plans have kept disruptions to a minimum.

The strike by some 200 air traffic controllers is to demand higher pay, increased bonuses and reduced working hours.

ng, acb/slk (dpa, AFP)