Dubai: Lufthansa cancelled all its Middle East flights on Monday as a result of a one-day strike planned by the German carrier’s ground staff in a pay dispute. The flights affected in the UAE included one flight from Abu Dhabi and two flights from Dubai, according to a Lufthansa spokesperson.
“All Middle East flights are cancelled and should be back on schedule on Tuesday,” Aage Dunhaupt, Lufthansa German Airlines’ Director Group Communications for Southeast Europe, Middle East and Africa, told Gulf News in an e-mailed statement.
He added that the flight to and from Kuwait should be back in operations on Monday, “making it the only Middle East flight to be first back on track and one of the six that Lufthansa is doing in total”.
The carrier further said that affected passengers were contacted prior to the flight cancellations and will either get rebooked accordingly or refunded. It added that passengers should check lufthansa.com for updates.
Globally, Lufthansa reportedly said that out of nearly 1,800 planned flights on Monday, it was to operate 20 short and medium-range flights and 12 long-distance services, cancelling most of its domestic, European and long-haul flights at six German airports owing to strike by ground staff and some cabin crew.
Meanwhile, at its main hub in Frankfurt, Lufthansa would operate six out of a total 50 flights, and three from 17 at Munich.
The strike on Monday comes a month after Lufthansa was forced to cancel nearly 700 out of a total 1,800 flights due to half a day of warning strikes.
As three rounds of pay talks with management ended in no agreement, services union Verdi called the strike on Monday, demanding a 5.2 per cent pay increase for 33,000 Lufthansa ground staff, plus employees of several subsidiaries besides cabin crew members who are union members.
