Pilots at Germany's Lufthansa to stage two-day strike

The strike will affect Lufthansa Cargo and passenger flights "departing from German airports between 00:01 local time on March 12th, 2026 and 23:59 local time on March 13th, 2026", the union said.

However, flights to several key Middle East destinations will be excluded from the industrial action "in light of the current situation" in the region, according to the statement.

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Andreas Pinheiro, the union president, said there was "still no offer on the table" from Lufthansa following a one-day strike last month.

Almost 800 flights were cancelled during the February 12th walkout, with cabin crew also staging a strike on the same day.

READ ALSO: Hundreds of flights cancelled in Germany as Lufthansa staff strike

Pilots for Lufthansa subsidiary CityLine will hold a strike on Thursday, Vereinigung Cockpit said, blaming "the failure of negotiations on a new collective wage agreement".

Lufthansa announced one year ago that it would close Lufthansa CityLine, with operations and staff moved to a new subsidiary.

How many flights are affected?

Passengers should expect severe disruption during the two-day strike, with hundreds of cancellations. 

A statement on the Lufthansa website said the company was "working intensively to keep the impact on our passengers as low as possible".

"We are trying to have as many flights as possible operated by other airlines within the Lufthansa Group and by partner airlines," the firm added. 

The company urged passengers to check the status of their flight. Those who are affected will likely be automatically rebooked or can get a refund. 

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Destinations in Egypt, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will be excluded from the strikes, the union said.

Announcing its 2025 annual results last week, the Lufthansa group reported a forecast-beating operating profit of €1.96 billion ($2.27 billion), around 20 percent higher than the previous year.

However, the airline warned it faced an uncertain outlook because of the Middle East conflict.