Passengers booked on services between the UK and Germany face days of major disruption from delays and cancellations owing to a pilots' strike. German nation airline Lufthansa is set to cancel routes from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs on Friday with knock-on effects of the action lasting for several days.
Pilots are staging a 24-hour walkout as the row over wages escalates with more flights grounded on Saturday and Sunday, because of aircraft and crew left out of position by the strike. Some 800 flights will be grounded during the dispute with 130,000 passengers expected to be hit by the walkout.
Lufthansa stated it could not provide specific information on the impact of the strike but would “do everything possible” to minimise the impact on passengers. The airline advised passengers due to fly on Friday to check lufthansa.com continuously for information.
Strikes and staff shortages have already forced airlines including Lufthansa to cancel thousands of flights this summer and caused hours-long queues at major airports, frustrating holidaymakers keen to travel after COVID-19 lockdowns.
Lufthansa has already faced strike action this year by security workers and ground staff over pay. The airline said it was doing everything possible to minimise the effects of Friday's pilots' strike, but it could not rule out cancellations or delays in some cases over the weekend.
The VC union, representing the pilots, is demanding a 5.5 per cent pay rise this year for more than 5,000 employees coupled with automatic inflation-proof increases. A Lufthansa spokesperson said on Thursday: "We hope to get back to negotiations as soon as possible. However, we cannot bear the cost increases associated with VC's demands either," he added.
