Saturday, 26 July 2008: in the media it is announced that most likely there will be a strike at Lufthansa, starting Sunday evening.

Update Fri 1 August: about 90% of all flights will be on schedule. Frankfurt is current focus of the strike. 28 international flights are affected. Lufthansa published a special timetable for the upcoming days (Tagesschau).

Update Tue 29 July: the strike seems still to mainly hit Hamburg. Still you are advised to check your flight before going to the airport (Tagesschau).

Update Sun 27 July: On Monday, the strike will mainly affect Frankfurt and Hamburg. It will be mainly ground personnel who strike (Tagesschau, in German).

According to the Lufthansa Website:

Following the announcement of the German trade union ver.di to begin strikes on Sunday 10 p.m. GMT for an unknown time period, Lufthansa has taken measures to minimise the impact on its passengers. Possible disturbances in the flight schedule cannot be specified yet as no details on the strike action are available.

Up-to-date information regarding the flight status is available on www.lufthansa.com.

Lufthansa is offering a dedicated customer hotline for information regarding bookings affected by the strike: 0800-8506070 (toll free from the German landline and mobile). Customers calling from outside Germany are kindly requested to contact the local Lufthansa Service Center.

What to do

According to the local newspaper 'Hildesheimer Allgemeine Zeitung':

Stay informed

If you fly Lufthansa, contact them well before your flight is scheduled. Please note the following phone numbers:

• Lufthansa Information regarding the strike: 0800 8506070 (only from within Germany)
• Hannover Airport Hotline: +49 511 9770
• Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (who provide information on your rights as a passenger): +49 531 2355100

Travel by train

If you have a step-over in Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin or any other German airport and if your flight from there to Hannover is canceled, consider traveling by train. According to Lufthansa, they will provide vouchers for train tickets at their counters. Alternatively, you can purchase the ticket yourself and send it to Lufthansa for reimbursement afterwards. Obviously, this only yields if your flight is actually canceled due to the strike.

If your flight is delayed

If your flight is delayed (short flights: more than 2 hours, longer flights: more than 3 or 4 hours), you are entitled to free meals and drinks and two phone calls, fax or emails. If your flight is delayed for more than five hours, you can reclaim part of the money that you have paid for your ticket.

If your flight is canceled

Many airlines consider a strike as an 'act of nature beyond control'. However, according to the German arbitration board for mobility the airlines should be held responsible for any strike-related cancelations. This means that you will be eligible for refunding.

If you need to contact us

There is not much that we can do, apart from keeping you informed. Should you however need to inform us, or should you really need help: Eelco's mobile phone number is +49 163 1742674.