Lufthansa cancels Wednesday flights in Germany over planned strike, four Malta flights impacted

Due to a planned strike on Wednesday, Lufthansa announced it is cancelling flights at airports in the major travel hubs that are Frankfurt and Munich. As Germany’s flagship carrier, the announcement came as a shock to passengers.

Lufthansa said that due to the consequences of the planned strike, it is likely that further cancellations will take place later this week. In total, over 1,000 flights are being scrapped with an estimated 134,000 passsengers affected.

The strike is being planned by trade union Verdi, which called for around 20,000 employees that make up Lufthansa’s ground staff to strike in an effort to place pressure on management to raise salaries.

The airline criticised the strike, saying it was premature when there has only been two days of negotiations and that it came at an exceedingly difficult time for the airline.

Impact on Malta

BusinessNow.mt understands that four flights in and out of the country are cancelled on Wednesday due to the union strike: LH1276/7 and LH1310/1, which are two separate daily flights in and out of Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is a particularly important destination for an island nation like Malta with limited connectivity, as it allows passengers to take connecting flights to all over the world.

Impacted passengers are being advised not to go to the airport, whether in Frankfurt or Malta, if they are not rebooked, as there will be limited Lufthansa desks open. Passengers are strongly advised to liaise with their airline directly.

Lufthansa also warned passengers against flying into German hubs without a connecting flight as it could take hours if not days to get those passengers out on fresh flights.

Aviation in chaos

From Heathrow airport telling airlines to stop selling summer tickets until mid-September, to Amsterdam’s Schipol experiencing 3+ hour long queues to pass through security, endless delays and lost luggage, summer vacation flying has never been so stressful.

Many airlines blame a shortage of workers and the need to train new hires during peak season as the main driver of chaos.