Strike extend until Saturday, long haul flights affected

Frankfurt, Germany - April 22, 2013: Ground staff of Lufthansa entered into a one-day token strike. Empty check-in counters at Terminal 1, Airport Frankfurt. In the background a waiting crew member. Lufthansa is the largest airline in Europe and the world's fifth-largest airline.

Lufthansa pilots have reportedly extended their strike action until Saturday and are expected to target long-haul flights, causing further pressure on management to settle a long-running pay dispute.

The pilot strike, starting on Wednesday, was initially planned as a 24-hour walkout, but has now been extended three times causing disruption to nearly 315,000 passengers.

As one of Europe’s biggest carriers, Lufthansa has already been forced to cancel almost 1800 flights since action began on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Lufthansa will cancel 830 short- and medium-haul flights on Friday, just over a quarter of its schedule, hitting more than 100,000 travellers.

However, Saturday’s cancellations will affect all long-haul flights leaving Germany until midnight.

Reuters reports Harry Hohmeister, a Lufthansa board member, saying cancellations for the first two days of strike action had cost the airline about 20 million euros and customers were making fewer bookings.

“Not only have we suffered severe damage (from the strike), but we’re also noticing from mid-term booking numbers that customer behavior is changing,” Hohmeister said, per the report.

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