Hundreds of flights were cancelled across Germany on Thursday as pilots and flight attendants at Lufthansa staged a strike over pay and working conditions, causing widespread disruption at major airports.

At Frankfurt Airport, the country’s busiest hub, 450 of 1,117 scheduled departures were scrapped.

In Munich, Germany’s second-largest airport, 275 of 920 flights were grounded.

Around 4,800 pilots at Lufthansa and its cargo subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo walked out in a dispute over higher company pensions, according to the Cockpit Association pilots’ union.

At the same time, cabin crew launched a warning strike aimed at pushing management into negotiations over several collective bargaining issues.

The UFO union, which represents flight attendants, also called on employees at Lufthansa CityLine, a regional subsidiary facing closure, to join the industrial action.

Lufthansa management has rejected the unions’ demands.

“The strike is going as we expected,” said UFO representative Harry Jaeger at Frankfurt Airport, where long queues formed at Lufthansa service counters.

Passengers were urged to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

The Cockpit Association said participation in the strike had been “very good in Frankfurt.”

Union president Andreas Pinheiro said the company had failed to present a new offer.

“What we need is a new offer. Lufthansa has not been in touch,” Mr Pinheiro said, warning that further strikes could follow.

“As a trade union, we do not have many means at our disposal other than industrial action. If there is no offer, the spiral of escalation continues,” he added.

(dpa/NAN)