Over hundreds of Lufthansa flights cancelled as its ground staff strike for a day 

Ground staff for Lufthansa staged a walkout at five major German airports on Wednesday, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights by the airline. The Ver.di union called on ground staff at Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa’s two main hubs, as well as Berlin, Duesseldorf and Hamburg, to strike for 27 hours starting at 4 a.m. Wednesday. Lufthansa had anticipated the strike and announced that it would likely operate only 10-20% of its scheduled flights. The airline offered passengers the option to rebook their tickets free of charge, and for domestic flights within Germany, tickets could be exchanged for rail vouchers. In Frankfurt, the company cancelled 80-90% of the planned 600 departures and arrivals by Lufthansa itself and subsidiary Air Dolomiti ahead of the strike, the German news agency dpa reported. More than 400 departures and arrivals at Munich Airport also were cancelled. All Lufthansa departures from Berlin and Hamburg were cancelled, as were most domestic flights from Duesseldorf. Lufthansa anticipated that, in all, more than 100,000 people would have to change their travel plans. Lufthansa unit Eurowings said it wasn’t affected. The union is seeking a 12.5% pay raise, or at least 500 euros ($539) more per month, in negotiations for nearly 25,000 employees, including check-in, aircraft handling, maintenance and freight staff. Hourslong or one-day “warning strikes” are a common tactic in German contract negotiations. Coinciding contract negotiations have resulted in several recent walkouts in the rail, air and local transport sectors, making for a frustrating few weeks for travellers and commuters in Germany. With inputs from AP.