Tegel Airports

Ground staff at Berlin's two airports will begin a 25-hour strike on Monday, their trade union said on Sunday, stepping up action in a pay dispute that has already caused the cancellation of around 1,000 flights.

Crowds began massing in central Berlin before dawn and thousands more supporters gathered on a viewing platform under warm summer sunshine at Tegel airport to meet the plane that carried the World Cup-winning German team.

The scheduled opening of Berlin's new main airport next month has been delayed indefinitely due to problems with fire protection measures, authorities said on Tuesday. Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, designed to replace the city's current two hubs, Schoenefeld and Tegel, was scheduled to welcome its first flights on June 3.

Ground staff at Berlin's two airports will begin a 25-hour strike on Monday, their trade union said on Sunday, stepping up action in a pay dispute that has already caused the cancellation of around 1,000 flights.

Crowds began massing in central Berlin before dawn and thousands more supporters gathered on a viewing platform under warm summer sunshine at Tegel airport to meet the plane that carried the World Cup-winning German team.

The scheduled opening of Berlin's new main airport next month has been delayed indefinitely due to problems with fire protection measures, authorities said on Tuesday. Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport, designed to replace the city's current two hubs, Schoenefeld and Tegel, was scheduled to welcome its first flights on June 3.