Lufthansa passengers are facing cancellations due to a week-long cabin crew strike after talks to avert industrial action collapsed yesterday.
The cabin crew union UFO began strikes on Friday (November 6) and the stoppage is set to run until next Friday, November 13. The strike is affecting Lufthansa's operations from Frankfurt and Dusseldorf but flights to and from Munich are not affected .
Lufthansa said in a statement: "A total of almost 10 per cent of all flights of the Lufthansa Group have to be cancelled due to the union’s strike today.
"Out of a total of 3,000 planned connections, 290 flights are cancelled, including 15 intercontinental flights to and from Frankfurt and Dusseldorf."
The dispute centres on employee retirement and pension benefits, with Lufthansa wanting to reduce costs and staff determined to protect their current benefits.
Lufthansa said that the strike would only affect Lufthansa German Airlines services and not any of its subsidiaries, including Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines, which will operate as normal.
“Lufthansa is trying to keep the effect of the strike on its customers as low as possible,” said the airline in a statement.
“Passengers booked on a flight which has to be cancelled due to strike actions, always have the opportunity to rebook or cancel their flight free of charge.”
Last week, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said the airline has identified €1billion of cost savings despite raising its full-year profit forecast.
Industrial action has so far cost Lufthansa around €130 million this year with pilots also staging a series of strikes.