FRANKFURT/MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - Lufthansa cabin crew continued their strike on Wednesday: Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cityline flight attendants at Munich Airport stopped work at 4:00 am. The cabin crew union Ufo plans to strike all Lufthansa departures in Munich until 11 p.m. on Wednesday evening. The airline estimates that 400 flights with 50,000 passengers will not be able to take off.

Lufthansa cabin crew had already gone on strike at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday. According to the company, 600 flights were canceled there and around 70,000 passengers did not reach their destinations as planned.

The Ufo union is demanding 15 percent more pay for the approximately 18,000 cabin staff at Lufthansa and the almost 1,000 employees of the regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline for a contract period of 18 months. The union also wants an inflation adjustment bonus of 3,000 euros and higher bonuses.

Last week, hundreds of Lufthansa flights were canceled due to a warning strike by ground staff organized by Verdi. The wage negotiations for the approximately 25,000 ground staff are to continue this Wednesday and Thursday (March 13/14). Verdi is demanding 12.5 percent more pay for a twelve-month term, while the company has so far offered 10 percent for a 28-month term. After four rounds of negotiations, an inflation compensation bonus of 3000 euros is relatively uncontroversial.

Lufthansa Chief Human Resources Officer Michael Niggemann appealed to the union on Tuesday: "We have made good, far-reaching offers to both Verdi and Ufo, both with salary increases of around ten percent," said Niggemann. "I think this is the basis for finding solutions in the short term. We are ready to negotiate."/ben/mar/DP/zb