Pilot strikes at Lufthansa and its subsidiaries including Eurowings have cancelled over 1,000 flights across Europe, with UK passengers at Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh facing disruption
British travellers could face further chaos as a major airline and its subsidiaries will be hit by fresh pilot strikes.
Holiday plans for UK tourists were already thrown into disarray earlier this week following a two-day walkout at Lufthansa, which saw hundreds of flights axed across Europe and several British airports affected.
The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has announced renewed industrial action at Deutsche Lufthansa AG and its subsidiaries Lufthansa Cargo AG, Lufthansa CityLine GmbH, and Eurowings GmbH today (April 14). The strikes will commence on April 16, 2026, at 12.01am local time and conclude on April 17, 2026, at 11.59pm local time.
Services departing from German airports during this timeframe will be impacted, according to a statement on VC’s website, though multiple British airports could face disruption once more.
The statement also clarified that “due to the current situation in the Middle East, flights operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Lufthansa CityLine from Germany to the following destinations remain exempt from the strike: Azerbaijan, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates”.
Andreas Pinheiro, president of the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ association, declared “the situation is deadlocked”.
“The situation remains unchanged – there is absolutely no movement on the part of the employers. Neither Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo have made an offer regarding company pension schemes, nor has Lufthansa CityLine made a viable offer for a new collective bargaining agreement on remuneration, nor has Eurowings made any offer regarding company pension schemes,” he continued, reports the Express.
“We are not concerned with power struggles or egoism, but with sustainable solutions,” he also stated.
The VC’s statement on its website also declared: “Should the employers accept the mediation proposal, the Cockpit Association will promptly submit suggestions for a suitable mediator.”
These walkouts, much like the earlier ones which concluded today (April 14), relate to pension arrangements and working conditions.
They have led to the axing of more than 1,000 flights so far. Multiple flights have already been scrapped today, with several UK airports experiencing disruption. It is understood that over 4,500 passengers due to travel to and from the UK today have already been impacted.
Various flights from London Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh, all bound for Frankfurt or Munich, were axed today.
Lufthansa confirmed it will be running approximately one-third of their complete short-haul timetable, while half of their long-haul services will be scrapped. In the meantime, Eurowings will be running 60% of its timetable. So far, some 570 arrivals and departures have been scrapped at Frankfurt Airport, impacting over 50,000 passengers.
Elsewhere, Munich Airport has reported roughly 720 flight cancellations over the past two days due to the strike.