Major airline cancels hundreds of flights affecting 50,000 passengers

It said travellers may exchange their flight ticket

The pilots’ strike at Lufthansa has led to cancellations of 570 take-offs and landings at Frankfurt airport, the largest hub in Germany.

The strike action this week which affected the passengers occurred on Monday and Tuesday, April 13 and 14.

Members at Lufthansa and its regional subsidiary Cityline were asked by pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) to walk out on Monday and ⁠Tuesday.

The union is demanding that the airline more than double its contributions, as Lufthansa and the VC are at odds over a company pension scheme for pilots.

Over two days, a combined 720 cancellations were reported by Munich airport, most of which were connections offered by Germany’s flag carrier.

Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary Eurowings has also been affected, saying it ⁠would operate around 300, or 60 per cent, of its scheduled flights.

The airline is working to keep the impact on passengers as low as possible, however flight cancellations are unavoidable despite these efforts.

According to Lufthansa, in the event of a cancellation of a German domestic Lufthansa flight, travellers may exchange their flight ticket for a Deutsche Bahn ticket free of charge.

“The strike announcement by the sectoral union VC for April 13 and 14 marks a completely new level of escalation”, a statement from Lufthansa said.

“Their core demand to double an already above-average and excellent company pension plan is absurd and unfeasible.”

“This time, the VC is striking at four Lufthansa Group airlines simultaneously: Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, and Lufthansa Cityline on April 13 and 14, and Eurowings on April 13.”

“A special flight schedule for the strike period has been published. Accordingly, on both days, the airlines affected by the strike will be able to operate about one-third of their total short-haul schedule”, the statement continued.

Regarding the UFO strike, the airline added: “The latest call for a strike by the UFO union is a grim reminder that it is completely indifferent to the fate of our passengers and the future of Lufthansa.”

“This forced strike, launched without any serious negotiations, aims to significantly improve the working conditions for flight attendants - which are already the best in the entire group.”