FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The trade union Verdi has extended the warning strikes by aviation security staff, which were originally limited to Frankfurt and Hamburg. Without warning, employees at the personnel and goods controls at Koln/Bonn Airport went on strike on Wednesday evening, as Verdi secretary Özay Tarim reported. Cargo traffic at the 24-hour airport will be particularly affected. Passenger flights will not be affected. The warning strike, which is to last until midnight on Thursday, was joined by employees of the parcel delivery company UPS. No advance warning had been given because the airport operator had used its own people as strikebreakers in similar actions in the past, said the Verdi official.

At the airports in Frankfurt and Hamburg, the air security controllers wanted to go on warning strike for one day in the morning. This means that passengers will not be able to fly from these two airports on Thursday - unless they only change planes there. The strikers are accompanying another warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff, which is set to last until Saturday morning./ceb/DP/zb