Lufthansa cancels nearly 900 flights due to walkouts in public service

The walkouts in the public service had forced Germany's air carrier Lufthansa to cancel nearly 900 flights at six German airports, the company announced on Tuesday.

As Germany's Ver.di trade union decided to extend the warning strikes in the public service on Wednesday to the airports, tens of thousands of passengers in Germany have to face delays and cancellation.

From the morning shift, people who work at workshops, air safety checks and ground services went on strike at the airports.

Most of the affected flights were scheduled to connect the German airports of Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, Dusseldorf, Dortmund and Hanover with domestic and some European destinations, while the two hubs Munich and Frankfurt are hit hardest.

A standstill will be expected at the Munich airport where the walkouts should last all day long, as only 90 flights could still take place besides the special flight timetable. A total of 545 connections are deleted here.

In Frankfurt where the strike is planned to end at 3:00 p.m.local time, around 500 flights could still land and take off, with about 350 flights canceled.

In the wage dispute, the union is demanding six percent more money and an increase in the training allowance to 100 euros (113 U.S.dollars) per month for approximately 2.14 million public employees.

In mid-April,the union had rejected an offer of a wage increase of three percent over two years. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for April 28 and 29. Endit