Published on Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Lufthansa, El Al resume flights

Lufthansa and El Al are flying over Germany and Israel again, after strikes grounded the two carriers yesterday.

Lufthansa Group says its one-day warning strike on Monday is over, and flights will resume "near-normal" schedules for the rest of the week, with only isolated irregularities. But nothing has been settled, and pay negotiations are continuing.

Yesterday a strike by the ver.di trade union canceled virtually all of Lufthansa's domestic German and intra-European flights; only 12 long-haul and about 30 medium-haul flights took off.

Lufthansa over the weekend contacted 95,000 of the 150,000 passengers holding tickets for canceled flights, giving them the option to rebook, cancel, or trade their ticket for one on the train.

El Al, meanwhile, reached a deal with the Israeli government to settle a two-day strike. Workers there were demonstrating against a new Open Skies agreement designed to grow the number of EU-based airlines operating in Israel and vice versa.

The carrier argued that its uniquely steep security costs put it at a disadvantage to other carriers, so it would lose out in a completely open marketplace.

The Israeli government, which already underwrites 70% of El Al security, agreed to increase its contribution, though the details were not made public.