Lufthansa cancels around 3800 services amid pilot strike action, to impact 425,000 pax

Lufthansa Group stated (31-Mar-2014) that due to the strike announced by the pilot's union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings have cancelled around 3800 services from 02-Apr-2014 through 04-Apr-2014. During the three day walkout of the cockpit crew only around 500 Lufthansa short and long-haul services will be operated. In addition to Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo will also be affected. For the three strike days, 23 of 31 planned cargo flights from Frankfurt have been already cancelled. The carrier commented: "Flight cancellations on such a massive scale will affect a total of 425,000 passengers. Lufthansa will inform all passengers who have registered their contact details in their booking or in their Miles & More profile about flight changes via text message and email. Most of the remaining domestic and European flights will be flown by the daughter companies Eurowings and Lufthansa Cityline, whose pilots are not participating in the walkout". The carrier added: "In total, a three-day pilot strike would alone have for Lufthansa German Airlines a negative impact on profit in the range of tens of millions of euros. The announcement alone has already caused significant damages since passengers have already rebooked flights and logistic customers have made arrangements with other cargo airlines to secure the transport of their goods". The pilots of the daughter companies Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa CityLine and Air Dolomiti as well as the pilots of Brussels Airlines will not participate in the strike. Where possible, these companies will use larger aircraft on routes to/from Germany in order to bring as many rebooked Lufthansa passengers as possible to their destinations. Additionally, Lufthansa will re-book affected passengers on other airlines and in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn will provide train tickets on domestic routes. [more - original PR - German/English]