Germanwings, Eurowings Cabin Crew Strike

Germanwings and Eurowings cabin crew went on strike for 24 hours on Thursday, in an escalation of a contract dispute.

Flight attendant union UFO called the strike from 00:00 to 24:00 at the Lufthansa low-cost units after failing to agree terms.

Eurowings and Germanwings cancelled hundreds of flights throughout the day.

Eurowings flights at Düsseldorf and Hamburg were affected, with Germanwings flights at Berlin-Tegel, Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and other airports also affected.

Eurowings said passengers on affected flights can cancel or rebook free of charge at www.eurowings.com. The airline said it would provide vouchers enabling customers to travel by rail instead.

UFO said it had been negotiating with Eurowings for two years and had been threatening industrial action if talks were unsuccessful. Additional strikes were being considered for next week.