BERLIN: Pilots at Germany's biggest airline Lufthansa said they would go on strike Tuesday -- for the fourth time in three weeks -- over changes to early retirement rules, a union said.
The eight-hour walkout will go from 9 am to 5 pm (0700 to 1500 GMT) and target long-haul flights as well as all flights leaving from Frankfurt, the airline's biggest hub, the pilots' union Cockpit said in a statement Monday.
"As Lufthansa management has not put forward an offer that is suitable for a compromise, we see ourselves forced to take further action," Cockpit said.
"We regret any inconvenience to Lufthansa customers."
However Lufthansa said it had launched contingency plans so that all 40 of its scheduled long-distance flights can take off, albeit with some scheduling changes.
The airline has been hit by several rounds of industrial action over its plans to change the early retirement policy.
A strike last Wednesday grounded 110 flights across Europe, affecting some 13,500 passengers.
The three walkouts taken together have forced the cancellation of 475 flights in total, almost entirely on domestic and European routes.
Due to advance notice, the industrial action has not sparked chaos at German airports. But it has dealt a heavy blow to Lufthansa, which already incurred losses of around 60 million euros ($78 million) from three days of strikes in April.
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