Airlines flying in and out of Dusseldorf and Cologne have been forced to cancel hundreds of flights due to a sudden strike by ground staff.

Eurowings on Friday confirmed there wold be ‘massive disruptions’ to flights to and from major German airports today and said a ‘significant number of cancellations’ were expected after strike action was announced.

Members of the Verdi and Komba trades unions have walked out.

The Independent has reported around 200 arrivals and departures have been cancelled at Dusseldorf, including at least 16 British Airways flights to and from London, and eight Eurowings services to and from Heathrow.

Eurowings, which is a subsidiary of Lufthansa, has also cancelled flights between Cologne and Heathrow, according to The Independent.

A Ryanair flight from Stansted to Cologne is believed to have been diverted to Weeze airport near the Dutch border because of the walk-out.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium describes Cologne airport’s ‘delay status’ as ‘excessive and increasing’ while Dusseldorf’s is ‘excessive’.

Travel Gossip has contacted British Airways and Ryanair for further comment.