Strike grounds Lufthansa flights

At least 340 flights have been cancelled

FRANKFURT, Germany (CNN) -- Lufthansa pilots have gone on strike for the second time in a week.

The pilots have decided to go ahead with a 24-hour strike that will disrupt flights throughout Thursday.

Flight delays and cancellations were wreaking havoc for travellers, with between 300 and 500 flights in all due to be grounded.

CNN's Bettina Luscher said: "Overall so far today 340 flights have been cancelled. Seventy of those were to have started from Frankfurt, while in Munich some 63 flights are being cancelled.

"Lufthansa has started an emergency flight programme and have brought in some of their management pilots."

COUNTRY PROFILES At a glance: Germany Provided by CountryWatch.com     AUDIO CNN's Bettina Luscher: Pilot strikes continue 880K/81.secs. AIFF or WAV sound Michael Von Pilar, Pilot Union Council: We hope to end strike soon 640K/59secs. AIFF or WAV sound

The company said that customers with Lufthansa tickets could still travel if they were due to fly on a "coach share."

Up to two-thirds of Lufthansa flights are shared with other airlines whose pilots are not Lufthansa employees and who are not taking part in the strike.

The pilots are turning up the heat after breaking off contract talks with Germany's biggest airline.

News of the strike pushed Lufthansa stock down nearly three percent to 21.51 euros ($19.15) in Frankfurt trading on Wednesday.

The action is expected to keep hundreds of pilots at home instead of in the air, according to Niels Stueben, spokesman for pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit.

A 12-hour stoppage a week ago grounded some 370 flights and disrupted travel for 30,000 passengers.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, Lufthansa said it would use non-union pilots to guarantee that 17 long-haul international flights got off the ground.

It also listed more than 38 domestic and inter-European flights that were due to run.

The strike only affects flights originating in Germany. Lufthansa said it had offered the pilots a 26 percent wage increase in 2001, the first year of a four-year package.

Pilots rejected that early on Wednesday, saying that a four year contract dilutes the overall rise to just over two percent a year because the profit-sharing and inflation components could not be guaranteed.

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Lufthansa

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