Germany's Verdi union plans strikes at two regional airports

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Verdi union is planning strikes at two regional airports, Cologne Bonn and Duesseldorf, and several cities in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia, it said in a statement on Friday.

The 24-hour Cologne Bonn airport strike will begin Sunday night, with Duesseldorf airport following shortly after, Verdi said, warning that delays, cancellations and even a partial shutdown of the airports should be expected.

Verdi brought air traffic to a standstill last week with one-day strikes at seven major airports, including the Frankfurt and Munich hubs, affecting nearly 300,000 passengers according to the airport association ADV.

Collective bargaining is currently underway for public service workers as well as aviation security workers, said Verdi, adding that an agreement had become a distant prospect.

In North Rhine Westphalia, which includes the cities of Cologne, Leverkusen and Bonn, the public services strikes would start at the beginning of next week, Verdi said, adding that it would share more information in due time.

The Handelsblatt newspaper warned there would be considerable restrictions on public transport in the affected areas on Monday.

(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Writing by Friederike Heine and Miranda Murray, Editing by Matthias Williams)