Lufthansa pilots have threatened further industrial action after the airline failed in a court bid to force their union to call off their latest strike.
A labour court in Frankfurt found yesterday that there were no grounds to declare the action illegal.
Pilots began their eighth strike this year on Monday in a dispute over the airline’s attempt to change retirement and pension arrangements.
The walkout, which was extended to cover long haul flights as well as European services, ended last night.
The action affected at least 166,000 passengers and forced the carrier to cancel more than 1,500 flights.
Lufthansa said it was doing its “utmost” to return flight operations back to normal for today (Wedneday).
But Markus Wahl, a board member at union Vereinigung Cockpit, told Reuters: “We explicitly do not rule out further strikes this week if Lufthansa doesn’t budge.”
The union, which represents about 5,400 Lufthansa pilots, is calling on the airline to reconsider its decision to raise the age that they can retire from 55 to 60.
The carrier has offered to retain the scheme for existing members but not to extend it to new recruits.