Lufthansa, Germany's biggest airline, said it will cancel around 600 European and domestic flights on Thursday due to a strike by ground staff, baggage handlers and maintenance workers. The giant services sector union Verdi has called for the walkout at Germany's major airports over a pay dispute. "The airlines of the Lufthansa group expect substantial disruptions to air traffic tomorrow, due to the strikes called by Verdi," it said in a statement. It quoted media estimates that around 6,000 employees in Frankfurt alone would take part in the strike. "But there will also be disruptions in Munich, Dusseldorf, Cologne-Bonn, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hanover," the statement added. "In view of the strikes, Lufthansa is cancelling almost all domestic and European connections in Frankfurt and Munich until 2:00 pm (1300 GMT)." Also affected would be long-haul connections to and from both Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa warned. Flights operated by the Germanwings subsidiary and the regional carriers to and from Munich would not be affected.
