A majority of Lufthansa flights to and from Germany have been grounded, with more than 200,000 passengers likely to be affected this week.
The flight cancellations resulted from the 35-hour strike by Lufthansa's ground staff. The walkout by the staff began at 8pm on Monday at Frankfurt airport. Whereas at the Munich, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart airports, the walkout started at 4am on Tuesday.
This is the second round of cancellations for Lufthansa as the German carrier will be forced to cancel as many as 90% of its flights. Meaning, Lufthansa has cancelled 900 out of their 1,000 flights, according to reports in the local media.
However, it has also been reported that the main effects of the strike will be felt at the key hubs, Frankfurt and Munich.
"Due to the strike, we currently assume that only around 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the Lufthansa Airline flight programme can be operated, particularly on February 20.
"Passengers who are affected by flight cancellations because of the Verdi strike will be informed by email or via the Lufthansa app. We regret the inconvenience for our guests," Lufthansa wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The flag carrier of Germany also urged its passengers to "only go to the airport if your flight has not been cancelled". This particular warning was issued because the rebooking counters will reportedly have no staff in them.
Due to the 35-hour warning strike from February 19 at 20:00 CET until February 21 at 7:10 CET, we currently assume that around 10 to 20 percent of the flight program will be possible on Tuesday, February 20. Passengers who are affected by flight cancellations as a result of the… pic.twitter.com/z6DvGwSiPV
— Lufthansa (@lufthansa) February 19, 2024
Meanwhile, UK travellers, take note that the cancelled Lufthansa flights from London Heathrow on Tuesday include:
9:30 am London Heathrow to Frankfurt
10:30 am London Heathrow to Frankfurt
11:30 am London Heathrow to Frankfurt
1:30 pm London Heathrow to Frankfurt
1:50 pm London Heathrow to Munich
3:30 pm London Heathrow to Frankfurt
4:30 pm London Heathrow to Frankfurt
5:30 pm London Heathrow to Frankfurt
5:50 pm London Heathrow to Munich
6:30 pm London Heathrow to Frankfurt
7:15 pm London Heathrow to Munich
7:30 pm London Heathrow to Frankfurt
Other airports in the UK are also believed to have been affected. The 6pm Lufthansa flight from Manchester to Frankfurt was cancelled on Monday.
It is understood that Lufthansa carries around 200,000 passengers a day. Apart from Tuesday's flights, the "first wave" of departures the following day could also be affected, leading to many more cancellations. It has already been confirmed that the first flight from Frankfurt to London on Wednesday has been cancelled.
Earlier this month, around 25,000 ground staff of Lufthansa walked out on a strike that lasted for around 27 hours. The airline's ground staff are represented by Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (Ver.di), the second-largest trade union in Germany. It has now been reported that discussions between the union and the airline broke down last week, with Verdi claiming 96 per cent of members had rejected the most recent offer from the German airline.
