German flights were badly disrupted early today as a pilots' strike at Deutsche Lufthansa led to cancellations at airports nationwide.
"The strike is affecting all routes and all airports," a Lufthansa spokesman said. Over 74 flights had been cancelled about an hour after the strike began.
The airline said flights were likely to return to normal by about midday. It has also scheduled 23 emergency flights to enable passengers reach connecting flights.
The pilots are asking for more than a 30 per cent salary increase on average and profit sharing.
Today's strike was the second in less than a week at Lufthansa. Workers held similar warning strikes last Friday over the progress of pay talks.
These stopped roughly 100 flights and delayed 10,000 passengers. A pay deal for ground staff and cabin crew was agreed the next day.