Chaos at Delhi airport as Lufthansa cancels 800 flights

Chaos broke out at the Delhi airport as German airline Lufthansa announced mass flight cancellations.

Around 800 flights were cancelled due to planned strike by pilots.

A huge crowd gathered in front of the departure gate of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on 2 September. They demanded refund of money or alternate flights for their relatives.

Pilots at the German carrier called for a one-day strike following the collapse of wage talks. Lufthansa said that it is canceling almost all passenger and cargo flights on Friday from its two biggest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich, due to the strike.

According to a statement from Germany's largest airline, 800 Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo flights will be affected, with the strike "provisionally impacting 130,000 passengers."

The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) had demanded a 5.5% pay rise this year for its more than 5,000 pilots, as well as automatic inflation adjustments for 2023, but negotiations failed.

"We have not received a sufficient offer today either," said spokesperson Matthias Baier. "This is sobering and a missed opportunity."