Lufthansa Pilot Strike Extended Again

The pilot strike at Lufthansa has been extended by a further day, into Friday, causing additional disruption for passengers.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union initially called a 24 hour strike for Wednesday, but late on Tuesday extended it until Thursday.

On Wednesday the union said it would further extend the strike until Friday at 23:59, but this time only for short-haul flights.

Lufthansa cancelled around 1,800 flights on Wednesday and Thursday and will cancel more on Friday.

The strike affects only Lufthansa flights. Other Lufthansa group airlines - Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines - are not affected.

Lufthansa said it regretted the inconvenience caused by the strike and would try to minimise the impact on its passengers.

Affected flights can be rebooked free of charge, or passengers can request a refund. Passengers travelling within Germany on cancelled flights can use Deutsche Bahn trains, with tickets converted to rail tickets.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union wants a 3.66 percent average pay increase for the last five years. VC said Lufthansa has not increased pilot pay during the period and that the airline had made EUR€5 billion profit during that time.