Almost 640 flights were cancelled in Germany Thursday as security staff went on strike at three airports, meaning disruption for around 100,000 passengers. The number of flights blocked was more than half the 1,050 scheduled for Duesseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart. Duesseldorf - the country's third-largest airport - said in a statement that 370 of Thursday's 580 planned departures had to be cancelled.

News agency DPA reported that the walkout, slated to last from 3:00 am (0200 GMT) to midnight (1100 GMT), was expected to affect around 100,000 travellers. At Cologne-Bonn, where 131 of almost 200 flights were cancelled, union Verdi told DPA the security strike was also slowing freight handling.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019