West Ham fans are facing travel chaos in Germany as train and airport strikes threaten to make a nightmare of this week’s trip to Freiburg.
The Hammers take on the Bundesliga side in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie on Thursday night and are firm favourites to reach the quarter-finals having already beaten the same team home and away during the group stage.
West Ham fans missed October’s trip to the Black Forest because of a ban on away supporters as punishment for crowd trouble during last season’s Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina.
And travel disruption is now causing all manner of logistical headaches ahead of the club’s return to Germany.
With few direct flights between London and Freiburg, the most popular routes for supporters involve flying to the larger travel hubs of Frankfurt and Basel, from where passengers can pick up train connections.
However, a number of flights have already been cancelled as a result of planned industrial action by Lufthansa ground staff, with the German airline warning of “extensive effects on the flight program” from Wednesday evening until Saturday morning.
According to German news agency DPA, around 1,000 flights are set to be axed on each of Thursday and Friday.
In addition, the German train drivers’ union confirmed on Monday that it will stage the latest in a series of strikes across Thursday and Friday.
Millions of travellers are expected to be impacted across the country, meaning fans whose return flights are still scheduled to go ahead may face a struggle to reach their respective airports from Freiburg.
