Major European airline strike grounds hundreds of flights leaving Brits stranded | Travel News | Travel

Hundreds of Lufthansa planes have been grounded on Thursday (February 12) amid an all-day strike by pilots and flight attendants. The German flag carrier is in conflict with unions after it tried to cut costs and become more profitable.

The number of flights affected by the industrial action remains unclear, with the company initially speaking only of « numerous cancellations ». However, according to estimates from the German airport association ADV, more than 460 flights will be cancelled on Thursday, affecting almost 70,000 passengers. Short-haul carrier CityLine, also part of the Lufthansa Group, has been affected as well.

According to Flightradar24, a huge number of Lufthansa flights due to leave from Frankfurt – Lufthansa’s main operations base – are displayed as « Unknown », including a flight from Heathrow Airport, which was to depart just after 12pm and another to Munich at 1pm. According to The Sun, 14 flights from Frankfurt to the UK have been cancelled.

On its website, Lufthansa urges passengers to check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport. It also said it would try to rebook affected passengers on flights operated by the group’s other airlines or partner airlines, including Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines. The company said flight bookings could also be changed into train tickets with the national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, at no extra cost.

Flights were not expected to return to normal until Friday, Lufthansa added.

Some 4,800 pilots working at Lufthansa and its freight arm, Lufthansa Cargo, are seeking to pressure their employers into paying higher contributions to their retirement benefits. The strike comes after a clear majority of the German pilots’ union, VC, declared their readiness to strike in a vote last year.

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The president of VC, Andreas Pinheiro, said that « we would very much have liked to avoid an escalation » and that the union had always been ready to talk. « That this strike is taking place nonetheless is the fault of the employer, » he added.

The strike action comes just three days after Lufthansa City Airlines officially commenced flight operations from Frankfurt Airport.

The Express contacted Lufthansa for comment, and a spokesperson said: « The all-day strike by the Ufo and Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) unions today, Thursday, February 12, is having a severe and disproportionate impact on our passengers. A total of almost 800 flights have been cancelled today at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cityline, and Lufthansa Cargo, affecting around 100,000 passengers. Eurowings, Lufthansa City Airlines and Discover Airlines, on the other hand, are operating around 400 flights today. Lufthansa is doing everything in its power to minimise the impact on its passengers. We expect to be able to offer a largely normal flight schedule again from Friday onwards. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our guests by the very short-notice strike by Ufo and VC.