Lufthansa resumes full flight operations after weeklong strike disruptions

"It's restarted as planned," a spokeswoman told dpa in the wake of thousands of flight cancellations throughout the week.

On Friday alone, around 650 flights were scratched at Frankfurt Airport, Germany's main aviation hub, and more than 400 at Munich Airport.

Together with the cabin crew union UFO, the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) disrupted operations at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Cityline for five days.

Lufthansa's low-cost airline Eurowings was also affected by the strike action on two days.

On Thursday, the company reacted to the industrial action by immediately suspending flight operations at Cityline. The cutback was also attributed to high fuel costs for the regional carrier's ageing fleet.

The company said Cityline's 24 passenger aircraft and three cargo aircraft have been taken out of service. It had previously operated feeder flights to the hubs in Frankfurt and Munich under Lufthansa flight numbers.

The pilots' union criticised the shutdown as contradictory and deeply unsettling for the affected employees as they fear for their livelihoods.

"On the one hand, a major crisis is being cited as justification for removing capacity from the market," said VC President Andreas Pinheiro.

"On the other hand, it is simultaneously being examined whether other group companies – such as Lufthansa Classic itself – could take over these routes, even though, according to management, they are even less profitable."

Strike end – for now

The union is not planning any further industrial action in the short term, according to an internal circular.

First, the board and the collective bargaining commission must assess the situation, it said.

Preliminary talks with the company regarding possible mediation are also planned for Monday. A first attempt at mediation failed because the two sides could not agree on a common set of issues.