LUFTHANSA CANCELS 110 FLIGHTS FROM MUNICH FOLLOWING PILOT STRIKE

02.03.2016

 

Lufthansa announced the cancellation of 110 Munich flights on Wednesday as the pilot’s union Vereinigung called another strike. The strike will consequently affect thousands of passengers who have booked their tickets on a Lufthansa flight. This is the third pilot strike for the German airline in the last two weeks.

The strike announced at the Munich airport will commence from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. London time on Wednesday. Munich airport is the second biggest airport for Lufthansa after Frankfurt. During the strike hours the airline operates around 320 flights to and from the airport.

The pilots want to increase pressure on Lufthansa in negotiations over an early retirement scheme. They held a strike at its budget carrier Germanwings at the end of August, followed by a walkout at Frankfurt last week.

Lufthansa, which has called on the pilots to return to the negotiating table, said the strike would not result in long-haul flights being cancelled, although there could be some delays. Long-haul flights are the most lucrative flights for Lufthansa.

According to a statement from Lufthansa, there were some pilots who wanted to carry on their duty despite the strike. The airline said that it is afraid that an eight-hour strike will affect the travel plans of 13,500 passengers.