Union calls Lufthansa pilot strike April 13-14 over pensions

Anabelle Colaco
13 Apr 2026, 13:58 GMT+10

Lufthansa is bracing for fresh disruption after its pilots’ union called a two-day strike next week, escalating a dispute over pensions and raising the prospect of widespread flight cancellations
Union VC on Saturday called on pilots at Lufthansa to stage a two-day strike from Monday in a dispute over pensions, saying that the company had failed to present an acceptable offer
It said flights into the following locations in the Middle East region were excluded from the action: Azerbaijan, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

FRANKFURT, Germany: Lufthansa is bracing for fresh disruption after its pilots' union called a two-day strike next week, escalating a dispute over pensions and raising the prospect of widespread flight cancellations.

Union VC on Saturday called on pilots at Lufthansa to stage a two-day strike from Monday in a dispute over pensions, saying that the company had failed to present an acceptable offer.

Pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa CityLine have been asked to strike from April 13, 0001 CET (2201 GMT) to April 14, 2359 CET (2159 GMT), the union said.

It said flights into the following locations in the Middle East region were excluded from the action: Azerbaijan, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.

Pilots at Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings have also been asked to strike on April 13 from 0001-2359 CET, the union said. "The Cockpit union feels compelled to take this step after the employers' side showed no real willingness to reach a solution in several collective bargaining disputes," VC President Andreas Pinheiro said. "Despite our deliberate decision not to take strike action over the Easter holidays, no serious offers have been made."

Lufthansa said in a statement that VC's announcement marked a "completely new level of escalation", and said the union's demand to "double an already above-average and excellent company pension scheme is absurd and unachievable".