Lufthansa Pilot Strikes Threaten Fresh Disruption for UK Travellers
British holidaymakers are facing renewed travel chaos as fresh pilot strikes hit the Lufthansa group, one of the Europe’s biggest carriers.
The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit has confirmed a new 48-hour walkout beginning at 12:01am on April 16 and lasting until 11:59pm on April 17. The strike will affect Lufthansa and its subsidiaries, including Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa CityLine and Eurowings.
Departures from German airports are expected to be hardest hit, but routes between Germany and the UK, including flights serving Manchester Airport and London Heathrow Airport, are also likely to face significant disruption.
The latest action follows a two-day strike earlier this week that led to more than 1,000 cancellations and disrupted travel for over 4,500 UK passengers. Flights to major hubs such as Frankfurt and Munich from cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh were among those affected.
Lufthansa has warned that only around one-third of its short-haul schedule will operate during the strike, while roughly half of long-haul services will be cancelled. Subsidiary Eurowings is expected to run about 60% of its planned flights after hundreds of cancellations affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
Union leader Andreas Pinheiro said negotiations with the airline group had stalled, citing a lack of progress on pay and pension agreements.
«The situation is deadlocked,» he said, adding that no viable offers had been made by employers.
Some routes to the Middle East will be exempt from the strike due to regional security concerns, including flights to destinations such as Egypt, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
With peak travel season approaching, the ongoing dispute raises concerns of further disruption for passengers across Europe if an agreement is not reached soon.
