Germanwings has cancelled 70% of its flights this morning (Friday) due to strike action by its pilots, impacting 15,000 passengers.
The Lufthansa subsidiary confirmed that 116 of its 164 flights between 6am and midday will be cancelled.
Passengers whose flights are cancelled can change their flight free of charge on www.germanwings.com or by contacting the call centre.
The decision comes after the pilots’ trade union Cockpit said it was going on strike over ‘transitional benefits for pilots’.
Bettina Volkens, chief officer human resources and legal at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: ‘We are very disappointed that we cannot avert strike action. The impression given is that the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union had already decided to strike. It is unrealistic to expect to reach agreement on a new model for sustainable transitional benefits in the course of a single day.
"The fact that an ultimatum for concluding a wage agreement was issued on the morning of negotiations – even though we made it clear that the talks would initially have to be about what form the further negotiation process should take – is very unusual and incomprehensible."
It pointed out that the strike action will coincide with the end of school holidays in Thuringia and Saxony.
Flights within Germany will be the most heavily affected but domestic passengers will be offered the option to travel by rail instead.
Germanwings said flights to holiday destinations will, however, go ahead, as the airline will be deploying pilots who are normally staffed in the airline’s management.
It will also be leasing aircraft from other airlines to ensure passengers can return from holiday destinations.
Routes served by Eurowings are not affected by the strike, as their pilots are not employed under the Lufthansa group wage tariff agreement.
