On a Wednesday in mid-April, the departure boards at Birmingham Airport told a familiar story of a dispute reaching far beyond the people who negotiate it. A pilots' union at Lufthansa, one of Europe's largest airline groups, has pressed its grievances to the point of walking out, and the cancellations that followed have stranded more than 4,500 UK passengers. A new strike has now been called across the group's subsidiaries for April 16 and 17, and the wider question is whether the parties will find their way back to the table before the disruption deepens.
Birmingham Airport Flights Cancelled as Lufthansa Pilot Strikes Expand Across Two Days
More than 4,500 UK passengers have been caught up in flight cancellations and disruption.
Another run of Lufthansa cancellations on Birmingham's departure board
Mark
Why does a pilots' strike in Germany land on a departure board in Birmingham?
Mimi
Because Lufthansa flies into Frankfurt and Munich from Birmingham, Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh. Cancel the hub flights and the UK routes go with them. Seven Birmingham services were listed as affected on Wednesday.
Mark
And the strike is growing, not ending?
Mimi
Vereinigung Cockpit has confirmed another walkout from 12:01am on April 16 to 11:59pm on April 17, covering Lufthansa Cargo, CityLine and Eurowings as well.
Luke
Worth being clear on what is firm. The strike dates and the cancelled Birmingham flight numbers are stated plainly. The totals, over 1,000 flights and over 4,500 UK passengers, are given without a breakdown of who counted them.
Mark
What about the Middle East exemption?
Mimi
The union says flights to several countries in the region are exempt because of ongoing tensions, including Egypt, Israel and the UAE. It is a deliberate carve-out, not a gap.
Luke
The article doesn't say why the pilots are striking or what they want. That's a real hole when asking how long this lasts.
Mark
So what should a traveller watch?
Mimi
Whether cancellations stretch beyond April 17, and whether talks resume.
Luke
And whether Lufthansa publishes updated schedules. Its statement says it is working to limit the impact, but gives no numbers for the new strike days.
O Pulso
- Vereinigung Cockpit has widened its walkout, with a new strike set to run from 12:01am on April 16 to 11:59pm on April 17.
- Lufthansa has cut its short-haul schedule to about a third of normal and cancelled half its long-haul flights, leaving departure boards thinning out.
- Birmingham travellers face cancelled services to Frankfurt and Munich, with both departures and arrivals scrubbed from the day's listings.
- More than 1,000 flights have already been lost and over 4,500 UK passengers are caught in the fallout, with no talks confirmed to end the standoff.
On a Wednesday in mid-April, the departure boards at Birmingham Airport told a familiar story of a dispute reaching far beyond the people who negotiate it. A pilots' union at Lufthansa, one of Europe's largest airline groups, has pressed its grievances to the point of walking out, and the cancellations that followed have stranded more than 4,500 UK passengers. A new strike has now been called across the group's subsidiaries for April 16 and 17, and the wider question is whether the parties will find their way back to the table before the disruption deepens.
Birmingham Airport's departure board carried another run of Lufthansa cancellations on Wednesday, April 15, as a pilots' dispute at the airline group entered its second day. The day before, Lufthansa had announced that only about a third of its short-haul flights would run as normal and half its long-haul services would be cancelled. Routes to Frankfurt and Munich from Birmingham, along with other UK airports, were scrapped, and the disruption carried into Wednesday.
The union behind the action, Vereinigung Cockpit, has now confirmed that the strikes will widen. The new walkout covers Lufthansa and its subsidiaries, including Lufthansa Cargo, CityLine and Eurowings, running from 12:01am on April 16 to 11:59pm on April 17. Flights to several Middle East destinations, including Egypt, Israel and the UAE, are exempt because of regional tensions.
So far more than 1,000 flights have been cancelled and over 4,500 passengers travelling to or from the UK have been affected. Lufthansa says it is working intensively to limit the impact on travellers. For those booked to fly, the open questions are whether the cancellations stay within the April 16 to 17 window and whether the union and airline return to talks.
Birmingham Airport's departure board carried another run of Lufthansa cancellations on Wednesday, April 15, as a pilots' dispute at one of Europe's largest airline groups spilled into a second day of disruption.
The day before, Lufthansa announced that only about a third of its short-haul schedule would operate as normal, and that half of its long-haul flights would be cancelled. Services to Frankfurt and Munich from Birmingham, London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh were scrapped, and the problems continued into Wednesday.
For Birmingham, the affected services on the day's listings were these. Departures: the 10:25 to Frankfurt (LH955), the 17:55 to Munich (LH2511) and the 18:15 to Frankfurt (LH957). Arrivals: the 09:50 from Frankfurt (LH954), the 17:10 from Munich (LH2510), the 17:35 from Frankfurt (LH956) and the 21:45 from Frankfurt (LH958).
The union behind the action, Vereinigung Cockpit, has now confirmed that the strikes will widen. The new walkout covers the airline and its subsidiaries, including Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa CityLine and Eurowings. It begins at 12:01am on April 16 and ends at 11:59pm on April 17.
The scale so far is considerable. More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled in the dispute, and more than 4,500 passengers travelling to or from the UK have been caught up in the disruption.
Lufthansa has said it is working intensively to keep the effect on passengers as low as possible.
The union has carved out one exception. Because of ongoing tensions in the Middle East, flights to several countries in the region will be exempt from the strike, among them routes to Egypt, Israel and the UAE.
For travellers, the practical question is whether the cancellations stay within the announced April 16 to 17 window. Whether the union and the airline return to talks is also unanswered in the reporting so far.
Citações Notáveis
Lufthansa is working intensively to keep the impact on our passengers as low as possible.— Lufthansa
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