Airline strike hits Manchester passengers

TRAVELLERS to Germany are being warned to expect disruption for the rest of this week as a result of strike action at Lufthansa.

Four flights from Manchester – two to Munich and two to Frankfurt – were cancelled by the airline on Wednesday and more are expected today and on Friday.

The carrier is to cancel 3,800 flights on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday because of a strike by pilots over pay and working conditions. Around  425,000 passengers will be affected.

Lufhansa said it had contacted passengers affected and is trying to mitgate the impact of the strike on them by using other group operations.

A spokesman said: “Most of the remaining domestic and European flights will be flown by the daughter companies Eurowings and Lufthansa Cityline, whose pilots are not participating in the walkout.

“The pilots of the daughter companies Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa CityLine and Air Dolomiti as well as the pilots of Brussels Airlines will not participate in the strike. Where possible, these companies will use larger planes on routes from and to Germany in order to bring as many rebooked Lufthansa passengers as possible to their destinations.”

The three-day walkout is thought to be the biggest in Lufthansa’s history.