Next Lufthansa strike: Wednesday

The threatened walkout, which was announced on Monday, is meant to increase pressure on Lufthansa's management, in the context of a long-running pay dispute.

The pilots' union, called Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), said the strike would run for 24 hours from midnight. It would affect all of Lufthansa's short- and long-haul flights starting from Germany.

Lufthansa's 5,400 pilots remain unhappy about management's reported offer to raise their wages by 2.5 percent by 2018.

Eurowings joining the fray

The pilots have been fighting for a hefty 22-percent pay hike over five years, covering the period between 2012 and 2017. 2012 was the year when their last wage agreement with Lufthansa ended.

Pilots said a big wage hike was justified, "given the billions upon billions of euros the airline has pocketed in profits in recent years."

Wednesday will mark the 14th strike at Lufthansa during the current wage negotiations between management and the union, which also represents the interests of pilots working for Lufthansa subsidiaries LH Cargo and Germanwings.

In a separate development, public-sector union Verdi announced Monday there would be a 24-hour strike on Tuesday by cabin crews at Lufthansa's no-frills airline Eurowings. It said all 23 Eurowings planes at Düsseldorf and Hamburg airports would be affected.

hg/nz (dpa, Reuters)