Lufthansa Cargo operations hit by strike

Lufthansa Cargo’s operations in Frankfurt and Munich have been impacted due to a strike by ground staff lasting over 24 hours.

Ground staff at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo are undertaking strike action organised by trade union Ver.di from 4am CET today until 7.10am on Thursday.

A Lufthansa Cargo spokesperson told Air Cargo News that its Frankfurt and Munich hubs were “affected by the strike”, however, “we did not completely shut-down”.

The spokesperson added the the company is “planning to operate normally after the end of the strike”. 

Lufthansa Cargo’s flight status tracker on its website shows the majority of flights from Frankfurt and Munich were cancelled on February 7.

“Due to the strike, we currently assume that around 10 to 20 percent of the Lufthansa Airline programme will be possible on 7 February,” said Lufthansa in a customer update on February 7.

The airline’s most recent update on February 8 said: “Lufthansa plans to gradually resume flight operations in Frankfurt and Munich after the end of the Verdi strike on Thursday morning. Due to the massive impact of the strike on our flight operations, there may still be a few delays or flight cancellations throughout Thursday.”

Last February, Lufthansa Cargo was affected by strikes of public sector workers and ground handlers organised by the Ver.di union at seven airports in Germany, including Frankfurt and Munich.

The industrial action follows a tough end to 2023 for Lufthansa Cargo.

Lufthansa’s logistics business, which includes Lufthansa Cargo, saw third-quarter earnings before interest and tax (ebit) fall to €0 compared with a profit of €330m a year earlier.

German cargo operations set to be hit by airport strikes on Friday