Germanwings said it expects to get more than 80 per cent of all passengers to their destinations over the next two days despite a pilots’ strike.
Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary said around 900 flights will be affected as union members’ walkout for 24 hours from tonight (February 12) at 23:00.
The airline has published a replacement flight schedule but said it still expects to operate more than 60 per cent of all scheduled flights, as it has leased aircraft and crews from other carriers and is rebooking its own passengers on flights with Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian airlines.
The strike is due to a long-running dispute over changes to the airline’s retirement scheme - Lufthansa want to change the current system in which pilots retire at 55 and retain some of their pay until they reach the state pension age.
The walkout is by the VC pilots union, which staged 10 strikes last year causing losses at Lufthansa and disruption to thousands of passengers.
VC said in a statement that its attempt to come to an agreement had failed. "Lufthansa thus demonstrates again that it does not want an agreement and is therefore responsible for more strikes.”
Routes served by Eurowings are not affected by the strike as their pilots are not employed within the Lufthansa group collective agreement.