Hundreds of Lufthansa flights were cancelled Monday as pilots kicked off a strike over pay and pensions, the latest walkout at the German aviation giant this year.

Half of all long-distance flights and two-thirds of short-haul services were cancelled at Lufthansa, the group’s main airline, on the first day of the two-day industrial action, the company said.

Pilots at its CityLine and Eurowings subsidiaries are also participating in the walkout.

Contacted by AFP, the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit was not yet able to provide its own cancellation figures.

On Saturday, a Lufthansa spokesman had denounced the strike, calling the union’s demands for higher pay and pensions “absurd and unfeasible”.

But the union’s president, Andreas Pinheiro, said the airline had “shown no tangible willingness to find a solution during several rounds of negotiations”.

“Although we deliberately refrained from any strike action during the Easter holidays, no serious proposal was made,” he added.

READ ALSO: Germany, Philippines Cut Fuel Taxes Amid Iran War Energy Shock

Lufthansa cabin crews went on strike last Friday, forcing the cancellation of around 90 per cent of flights at Lufthansa and CityLine, the UFO cabin crew union said.

The last pilots’ strike at Lufthansa took place in mid-March.

AFP