The pilots of the largest European airline Lufthansa have begun a four-day strike. Approximately 4,500 pilots, employed by Lufthansa and its subsidiaries, will suspend flying until their demands are met.
They are seeking a salary increase as well as improved safety. The pilots’ union has requested an extension of the period during which there would be no layoffs, which expired at the end of 2009, and a 6.4% salary increase. Lufthansa has rejected these demands, citing the crisis caused by the decline in passenger numbers. According to Lufthansa’s information, the strike will result in the cancellation of more than two-thirds of flights. Germanwings flights to Croatia have not been completely suspended, but their scope and schedule have changed, which the company is informing on its website.
Germanwings pilots, a low-cost airline that maintains connections between several German and Croatian destinations, are also expected to join the strike. Passengers can find information about Germanwings flights on their website, and according to the latest data, this afternoon there are two flights from Zagreb to Bonn and Berlin, and return flights from those two cities to Zagreb. For tomorrow and the day after, Tuesday and Wednesday, Germanwings has a total of ten flights to and from Croatian destinations according to the auxiliary flight schedule (on the routes Stuttgart-Split, Bonn-Split, Dortmund-Split, Bonn-Zagreb, and Stuttgart-Zagreb and vice versa). (www.hrt.hr, H)
