Lufthansa aircraft are parked at Munich airport on Monday. Lufthansa pilots are protesting against a new wage contract with a later retirement age.
Reuters/Frankfurt
German pilots raised the pressure on Lufthansa management in a dispute over retirement benefits, widening a two-day strike to include long-haul flights that are among the airline's most profitable.
The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union called on pilots on long-haul routes to walk out between 0400 and 2159 GMT on Tuesday, coinciding with a two-day stoppage on short-haul flights that began on Monday.
The action is the eighth pilots' strike to hit Lufthansa this year and adds to misery for travellers in Germany where millions were left stranded after train drivers had refused to work over the weekend in a separate dispute.
The strikes coincided with the start of week-long school holidays in a number of German states.
Lufthansa cancelled 1,511 flights for Monday and Tuesday - equivalent to 65% of services - as a result of the strike, including nearly all long-haul flights from Frankfurt, its main hub and Europe's third largest airport.
Lufthansa shares fell by as much as 2.5% on Monday, as analysts worried the strikes could force Lufthansa to cut its profit target for the second time this year.
DZ Bank analyst Dirk Schlamp estimated the series of eight strikes would cut Lufthansa's earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) by 80-90mn euros ($102-115mn) this year.
"A solution, however, is not yet apparent. Therefore, further strikes are possible," Schlamp said.
The strikes come as the national airline is trying to expand low-cost operations that will allow it to compete more effectively with budget carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet on short-haul European routes.
Air France-KLM, another European airline trying to cut its cost base to compete with budget rivals, said a two-week strike by its pilots in September would cost it up to 500mn euros.
Lufthansa said it could not understand why the union was not willing to compromise in the pensions dispute.