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Lufthansa has cancelled 895 (40%) out of 1,500 flights for Wednesday as a result of a strike called by trade union Verdi. The strike will affect 6 major German airports. Verdi is calling for a 6% wage increase for its 2.14m workers. Munich Airport expects to be impacted the entire day in all areas of operations. Lufthansa had to cancel 545 flights to and from Munich, affecting 54,000 passengers. Lufthansa’s major hub at Frankfurt Airport will be affected from early morning until 3 pm local time, leading to the cancellation of 350 flights, affecting 33,000 passengers. Lufthansa said, in total, it can only operate 500 flights to and from Frankfurt and 90 flights from Munich. The carrier also said it expects to cancel flights at Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund and Hannover airports. <br/>

Turkish Airlines has revived its interest in the Airbus A380 superjumbo as it examines options for serving China, India and some European markets, the carrier’s marketing chief said. Ultra-large jetliners are likely to be required to serve East Asia in particular amid capacity limitations there, CMO Ahmet Olmustur said Tuesday, adding that Boeing’s 747-8 jumbo is also under consideration and that the company could even take both models. Turkish Air is once again looking at offers from carriers including Malaysian to rent superjumbos, Olmustur said. Otherwise it would prefer to buy outright if Airbus offers a revamped “Neo” version of the aircraft, he said. The airline wouldn’t want more than 10 of the planes and the 747’s cargo-carrying ability might make it better suited to destinations such as Hong Kong, Olmustur said. <br/>