Pilot strike at Eurowings affects Zurich Airport

The departure board at Cologne Bonn Airport on Monday morning shows many flights, including those to Zurich, have been cancelled Keystone / Sascha Thelen

Pilots from Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings have started a three-day strike. As a result, most Eurowings flights to and from Zurich are cancelled.

At Zurich Airport a total of six rotations – flights to and from Zurich – will not take place on Monday, an airport spokesperson told the AWP news agency. The flights affected are to Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne.

Two rotations are to take place as planned. These are one connection each to and from Düsseldorf and Palma. The airport will provide more information about flight cancellations in the coming days during the strike.

This is the second time in a fortnight that pilots at Eurowings have gone on strike. During the first strike on October 6 about half of all flights were cancelled. Tens of thousands of passengers had to switch to other flights, take the train, or postpone their journey. In Zurich, seven rotations to or from Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne were cancelled.

The union Cockpit had called on Eurowings pilots to stop working from midnight on Sunday until Wednesday. The reason, it said, was the insufficient offer by employers regarding the collective labour agreement. It wants better working conditions for pilots. Eurowings criticised the strike as disproportionate and irresponsible.

Eurowings is asking customers to check the status of their flight on its website or via the Eurowings app. Passengers should be offered other travel options, such as changing to the train or rebooking on another flight.

On Sunday pilots at SWISS International Air Lines (SWISS), also a Lufthansa subsidiary, voted to go on strike over working conditions if management does not come up with a better offer by next week.