Lufthansa strike hits air travel for second time this month

Ground staff at German airline Lufthansa walked off the job at major airports on Tuesday in their second strike this month, raising pressure in wage talks due to continue on Wednesday. "If Lufthansa does not realise that it now has to take a big step towards us, then longer strikes will continue to be possible," labour union Verdi's lead negotiator, Marvin Reschinsky, said. Over 100,000 passengers will be affected by the industrial action, which is due to run until 7:10 am (0610 GMT) on Wednesday, the airline has said. Lufthansa said it could only operate 10% of scheduled flights at the affected airports, which include the country's biggest hub in Frankfurt as well as Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Cologne and Stuttgart. The first flights were cancelled on Monday evening. Germany, Europe's largest economy, has been hit with a number of nationwide strikes affecting air travel, railways and public transport, as workers faced with high inflation demand greater pay.<br/>