Louis Ibah
German carrier, Lufthansa Airline, says it has made alternative plans to airlift its Nigerian passengers out of the Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja international airports as the industrial action called by Verdi Union in Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Bremen airports commences from the early hours of Tuesday, April 10, 2018.
The Verdi trade union strike would see the shutdown of ground handling services, the support services and also part of the airport fire brigade staff embarking on an industrial action for improved salaries and other remuneration.
On Monday night, scores of passengers who were not duly informed on the status of their flights were left stranded at the Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt airports as the airline cancelled flights emanating from Nigeria at about 8.30pm.
The Daily Sun learnt that Lufthansa being a member of the Star Aliance – a global partnership that allows the code-sharing and transfer of passengers among member airlines in times of crisis – has communicated through letters to affected passengers of Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja services that they would be airlifted out of Nigeria on partner airlines.
But the alternative plan, Daily Sun learnt, would benefit passengers booked on transit through the Frankfort airport on Lufthansa Airline to other destinations in Europe, America, and Asia.
These passengers could now opt to fly through EgyptAir, South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines or Turkish Airlines who all belong to the Star Alliance group and fly into Nigeria with a code-sharing deal with Lufthansa Airlines.
Passengers with Frankfort as their final destination (and they constitute only about 20 per cent of the Lufthansa Nigerian passengers) would however wait till the strike is called off on Wednesday, Daily Sun learnt.
A senior official of the airline in Lagos told Daily sun, “Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance and we have gone ahead to communicate the alternative arrangements to passengers.”
According to local.de, a German online medium, Lufthansa said it will cancel “more than 800” flights on Tuesday as public sector workers walk out on strike for more pay, crippling major airports like Frankfurt.
“Due to this strike tomorrow (Tuesday), Lufthansa will have to cancel 800 out of the 1,600 scheduled flights, including 58 long-haul flights,” Lufthansa said in a statement, adding that around 90,000 passengers would be affected.
“Service would be back to normal on Wednesday after the strike, which will see groups like ground crew and airport firefighters walk off the job between 5:00 am and 6:00 pm local time (0300 to 1600 GMT),” Lufthansa added.
“It’s totally unacceptable that the union is waging this conflict on the backs of uninvolved passengers,” Lufthansa human resources chief Bettina Volkens said.
On alternative arrangement, Lufthansa said it has published an alternative flight schedule online. “Lufthansa passengers are requested to check the status of their flights at Lufthansa.com before leaving for the airport.
“Passengers who have provided Lufthansa with their contact details will be actively notified of changes by SMS or e-mail. Passengers can enter or update their contact details any time at www.lufthansa.com under “My Bookings”. Passengers can additionally choose to be automatically informed about changes in the status of their flights via Facebook or Twitter.”