Security personnel at Germany's largest airport, Frankfurt Airport, walked off the job Friday morning, causing dozens of flights to be cancelled.

"There have been 41 cancellations," said a spokesman for the airport operator, Fraport, said, adding that even more flights might be canceled.

According to German carrier Lufthansa's website, it has canceled 35 flights.

Long delays are also expected. Fraport has urged passengers to arrive as early as possible and to check online for information on the status of their flight.

Beatrix Müller, a spokeswoman for the trade union Verdi, said the strike has been running since 0100 (UTC) and would end at 2200 (UTC), 2300 local time.

Standard pay raise sought

Verdi is demanding a standard hourly pay rate of 16 euros ($22.01) for security employees in the regional state of Hesse and said employers had offered between 10-13 euros an hour. Security employees in other states get up to around 15 euros a hour, the union said.

This requirement is, however, "completely exaggerated," said the chief executive of the Federal Association of the Security Industry (BDSW), Harald Olschok. The BDSW has said it cannot meet Verdi's demands for immediate pay rises of up to 30 percent.

So far, the bargaining parties have met four times and are due to meet next on March 5.

hc/ipj (Reuters, AFP, dpa)