Lufthansa’s main cabin crew union said a week-long strike would start on Friday at the German carrier, after last-minute talks between staff and management over early retirement benefits and pensions broke down.
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Earlier, media reports stated that Lufthansa flight attendants will go on strike for a week, starting on Friday afternoon.
Saturday’s stoppage would also hit Frankfurt and Duesseldorf and would begin at 0500 GMT and last until 2200 GMT, UFO said.
The carrier said it was unable to arrange alternative flight plans due to lack of details about the strike.
Lufthansa urged travellers to check its website or call its hotline before heading to the airport to see if their connections were affected.
The strike will only affect Lufthansa flights, not Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines.
In September, the German pilot union, Vereinigung Cockpit, caused 84 of Lufthansa’s 170 long-haul flights to be cancelled because of a one day strike caused by disputes over pay, pensions, and cost cuts. The cancellations included 23 intercontinental flights. The company said it has reserved 2 500 hotel rooms for any stranded passengers.
Equinet analyst Jochen Rothenbacher said the strike could cost Lufthansa €20m (£14m) a day, depending on the number of cancellations.
Pilots, who are concerned about Lufthansa’s aim to further develop its low-priced activities, have staged repeated walkouts during the dispute.
Last week, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said the airline has identified €1billion of cost savings despite raising its full-year profit forecast.
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Lufthansa operates flights to Kyiv from Frankfurt and Munich.
