Lufthansa passengers in Germany face major delays until Saturday as pilots strike over an ongoing pension dispute.

The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union announced a 48-hour strike at short notice for all Lufthansa flights departing German airports on Thursday and Friday this week.

According to VC, industrial action follows “failed collective bargaining negotiations on remuneration issues at Lufthansa CityLine” and “the company pension scheme for pilots at Lufthansa.”

The airline said it planned to run “more than 50 per cent” of the originally planned flight program across 12 and 13 March, operating up to 60 per cent of long-haul connections.

It told travellers to check the current status of flights before heading to the airport.

Passengers holding tickets from Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, Brussels Airlines or Air Dolomiti, issued on or before 10 March 2026 for travel on 12 or 13 March, can rebook free of charge to another Lufthansa Group flight between 10 and 23 March.

Lufthansa said in a statement: “Lufthansa is working intensively to keep the impact on our passengers as low as possible and has published a special flight schedule for both strike days.”

Passengers will be rebooked onto another flight free of charge in the event of a cancellation.

Alternatively, customers with cancelled Lufthansa flights can convert their tickets for certain routes in countries including Germany, Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg and Paris into a Deutsche Bahn ticket free of charge.

Travellers can also “manually request and redeem a voucher at any time” in the event of a cancelled flight.

The German carrier said: “We sincerely regret the disruption caused by the strike announced at short notice by the Vereinigung Cockpit union and thank you for your understanding.”

Michael Niggemann, Lufthansa executive board member, called the renewed strike call by VC a “completely incomprehensible” escalation at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.

He said: “The union's actions are also incomprehensible in terms of content: We already offer a high level of company pension provision at Lufthansa Classic, which guarantees very good retirement security both in an internal comparison within the Lufthansa Group and with other airlines, industries, and companies.”

Lufthansa added that it expects to return to its regular flight schedule from Saturday, 14 March.

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