Wednesday, 11 November 2015 18:06
BERLIN: Lufthansa cancelled 930 flights planned for Wednesday after a court rejected its request to halt a cabin crew strike, in what is shaping up to be the longest walkout in the German airline’s history.
Cabin crews started a walkout on Friday in a long-running row over early retirement benefits and pensions, and have so far forced the cancellation of almost 3,000 flights, disrupting the travel plans of more than 330,000 Lufthansa customers.
Wednesday’s cancelled flights represent around one-third of the total number operated by the group.
Lufthansa won one temporary injunction in Duesseldorf, but that applied only to Tuesday’s strike and only to crews at Duesseldorf. A court in Darmstadt, near its main hub in Frankfurt, overnight turned down a bid to halt strikes until Friday.
“Lufthansa will decide today on the next steps,” it said in a statement early on Wednesday.
Lufthansa has the possibility to appeal the Darmstadt court decision, but a decision has not yet been taken, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The airline has also has filed for a further injunction in Duesseldorf to stop strikes there until Friday and a hearing is expected at 1300 GMT.
