Lufthansa cancels flights amid wave of transport strikes in Germany

Strikes at German airline Lufthansa continued to force the cancellation of hundreds of flights on Wednesday amid a wave of disruptive labour disputes in German transport. Cabin crews at Lufthansa pushed forward with a second day of strikes against the airline on Wednesday, this time with Munich-based Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine flight attendants going on strike beginning at 4 am (0300 GMT), with the action set to last until 11 pm. Lufthansa estimates that around 400 aircraft would be grounded on Wednesday due to the labour dispute with the cabin crew trade union Ufo, with 50,000 passengers affected. The strike in Munich came a day after flight attendants at Lufthansa's primary hub in Frankfurt staged a day-long strike on Tuesday, which cancelled 600 flights and affected an estimated 70,000 passengers. Ground staff at Lufthansa, meanwhile, threatened a further strike against the airline on Thursday at five German airports. The trade union verdi announced that ground staff would walk off the job on Thursday in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe/Baden Baden, Cologne and Berlin. "The strikes could be extended," verdi negotiator Wolfgang Pieper warned on Tuesday. Both verdi and Ufo are demanding pay increases from Lufthansa. Last week, hundreds of Lufthansa flights were cancelled due to earlier ground staff strikes also organized by verdi. Lufthansa's head of human resources, Michael Niggemann, appealed to the union on Tuesday to reach a deal and end the strikes.<br/>