FRANKFURT, March 26 – Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline, said it will cancel around 600 European and domestic flights on Thursday due to a strike by ground staff, baggage handlers and maintenance workers.
The giant services sector union Verdi has called for the walkout at Germany’s major airports over a pay dispute.
“The airlines of the Lufthansa group expect substantial disruptions to air traffic tomorrow, due to the strikes called by Verdi,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
It quoted media estimates that around 6,000 employees in Frankfurt alone would take part in the strike.
“But there will also be disruptions in Munich, Duesseldorf, Cologne Bonn, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hanover,” the statement added.
“In view of the strikes, Lufthansa is cancelling almost all domestic and European connections in Frankfurt and Munich until 2:00 pm (1300 GMT).”
Also affected would be long-haul connections to and from both Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa warned.
Flights operated by the Germanwings subsidiary and the regional carriers to and from Munich would not be affected.
