Hundreds of cancellations

Lufthansa strike underway, Austrian flights affected

Hundreds of Lufthansa flights will be canceled on Wednesday. Connections to Austria are also affected.(Bild: APA/dpa/Boris Roessler)

The announced warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff began on Wednesday night. Together with Munich, the Frankfurt hub will be the hardest hit by the strike, which is planned to last 27 hours. As a precautionary measure, Lufthansa has canceled between 80 and 90 percent of the approximately 1,000 flights planned for Wednesday. However, AUA's German flights are to take off as planned. 

In addition to Frankfurt and Munich, Verdi has also called on employees at various Lufthansa companies in Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf to take industrial action. The first flights were already canceled on Tuesday evening. According to the company, more than 100,000 passengers had to reschedule. At the other airports in Germany, connections to and from Frankfurt and Munich were generally canceled.

Hundreds of Lufthansa flights were canceled on Wednesday. Connections to Austria are also affected.(Bild: APA/dpa/Boris Roessler)

"Do not come to the airport"
Lufthansa warned passengers on canceled flights not to come to the airport. They could not expect any help there. "Due to the strike, the rebooking counters are unfortunately not staffed," the airline's website stated.

Stranded travelers cannot expect any help at the airport.(Bild: APA/dpa/Christian Charisius)

AUA flights are scheduled to take off as planned
Passengers of Lufthansa subsidiaries and external airlines, on the other hand, are not or hardly affected. For example, the direct flight subsidiary Eurowings is planning to fly its entire program. At the hubs in Munich and Frankfurt, the short flight crews will give priority to flights operated by Lufthansa's foreign subsidiaries Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines in order to keep their networks operational.

However, AUA recommends that passengers check their flight status online in good time or contact their travel agent.

Strike lasts until Thursday morning
The strikes in Germany were called by the union in order to push through higher salaries and wages. Strike meetings are planned for Wednesday in Berlin and Frankfurt. The strike is due to end at 7.10 a.m. on Thursday. Lufthansa is still expecting a bumpy start to operations on Thursday, with some cancellations and delays. By Friday, operations should have completely returned to normal.