Lufthansa strikes extend to fifth day, hundreds more flights axed

Strike action at German airline Lufthansa entered a fifth consecutive day on Friday, grounding hundreds more flights and escalating tensions between management and unions.

The walkouts have hit the core airline, Lufthansa Cargo and regional unit Lufthansa CityLine. The latter will now be shut down earlier than planned, the Lufthansa Group said on Thursday, adding that it would cease operations as soon as Saturday.

Lufthansa justified the move by citing high jet fuel costs and the financial impact of strike action by pilots and cabin crew that has plagued the airline on and off for weeks.

At Frankfurt Airport, Germany's main aviation hub, around 650 of 1,337 scheduled take-offs and landings were cancelled on Friday, airport operator Fraport said.

At Munich Airport, of the 915 take-offs and landings scheduled for Friday, 420 were cancelled, a spokeswoman said.

The pilots' union VC sharply criticized Lufthansa's intensified cost-cutting strategy and questioned the rationale behind the early closure of CityLine.

"The geopolitical reasons cited are not convincing from our perspective, as no competitor is currently removing capacity from the market on this scale," said VC President Andreas Pinheiro.

He added that management appeared willing to accept significant operational and economic damage in order to push through its collective bargaining agenda.

The labour dispute centres on demands by Lufthansa and cargo pilots for higher employer contributions to pensions, while talks at CityLine had focused on wage increases.

Pilots were on strike on Friday after being called out for a total of four days this week, while flight attendants staged walkouts on two days.