FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The nationwide warning strike largely paralyzed operations at major German airports on Monday. As announced, there were no regular passenger services at Frankfurt's largest airport. "The situation is calm," said a spokesman for operator Fraport. About 1170 takeoffs and landings with a total of about 160,000 passengers had originally been planned there. Fraport asked all passengers to contact their airline and refrain from traveling to the airport. Transfer traffic was also affected by the warning strike.

Munich Airport was also paralyzed. "There are no passengers en route," said a spokeswoman for the airport's traffic management. All 785 scheduled flights were canceled today. "Nothing is taking off or landing. It's almost a little spooky." Only one air ambulance arrived in Munich this morning, she said.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, air traffic at the two largest airports in Düsseldorf and Cologne-Bonn was severely hampered by the warning strike. "Everything is shut down here," said Verdi union secretary Frank Michael Munkler about Cologne/Bonn Airport. The airport had announced that at least three-quarters of the planned 175 takeoffs and landings would be canceled. Further flight cancellations or detour were possible, he added. At Düsseldorf Airport, 330 takeoffs and landings were planned for Monday. Of these, 69 flight movements were expected to take place throughout the day, a spokesman said. Some flights had been diverted or postponed until Tuesday.

Regular flight operations at Stuttgart Airport were paralyzed on Monday for the third time within a few weeks. All 170 scheduled arrivals and departures were to be canceled. In Hamburg, all takeoffs and more than half of all landings were canceled Monday morning. Originally, 147 takeoffs and 152 landings were planned. For Hanover, a greatly reduced flight schedule was available online. No planes were scheduled to take off from Bremen. The capital's BER airport was not included in the warning strike, but all domestic flights were canceled, as were those at Leipzig/Halle and Dresden.

The Verdi union has called strikes at almost all German commercial airports. The airport association ADV last estimated that around 380,000 business and private travelers would be unable to take their flights./als/löb/rs/vd/ato/aro/DP/ngu