Lufthansa cancels 800 flights due to strike, four Tallinn flights affected
German airline Lufthansa announced the cancellation of 800 flights on Friday in connection with a pilot strike, affecting an estimated 130,000 travelers. Among the cancellations are a total of four flights on the Frankfurt-Tallinn route.
Pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced late Wednesday night that wage negotiations failed and that Lufthansa pilots would be organizing a 24-hour strike on Friday, affecting both passenger air travel and the airline's cargo division, Reuters reported.
According to Lufthansa, the cancellations will affect primarily flights in and out of Frankfurt and Munich airports.
A total of four flights in and out of Estonia are being canceled due to Friday's strike, including Flight LH 880 from Frankfurt which was scheduled to arrive in Tallinn at 12:15 p.m., and the return Flight LH 881 from Tallinn to Frankfurt, which was scheduled to depart at 1:40 p.m.
Likewise canceled is Flight LH 884 from Frankfurt, which was to arrive in Tallinn at 12:35 a.m., and the return Flight LH 885 from Tallinn to Frankfurt, which was slated to depart from Tallinn Airport at 6:05 a.m. Saturday.
At midday Friday, Tallinn Airport reported on its homepage that Lufthansa Flight LH 2404 from Munich is scheduled to arrive in Tallinn just two minutes behind schedule at 12:17 p.m., and the return Flight LH 2405 to Munich is scheduled to depart at 12:55 p.m.
VC is demanding a 5.5 percent pay raise for its more than 5,000 pilots this year, followed by automatic inflation compensation going forward.
Lufthansa announced that it would do everything in its power to minimize the impacts of Friday's pilot strike, but that it cannot rule out flight cancellations or delays over the weekend in some cases.
The German airline has offered pilots a total additional €900 per month in basic wages, to be implemented in two stages over an 18-month period, as well as a contractual minimal fleet size for cockpit employees.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla