Lufthansa flight cancellations trigger protests at Indian capital airport

Lufthansa

NEW DELHI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of stranded passengers and their relatives early Friday staged protests at Indira Gandhi International Airport in India's capital city New Delhi after being informed that their Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt and Munich have been cancelled due to a pilot strike.

The German flag carrier's flight cancellations triggered protests from passengers waiting inside the airport and their relatives outside it, who were demanding a refund or alternate arrangements.

Lufthansa has cancelled around 800 flights affecting 130,000 passengers worldwide from the airline's two biggest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich, due to a one-day strike by its pilots for appraisals.

"Two flights of Lufthansa airline -- Delhi to Frankfurt having 300 passengers and Delhi to Munich having 400 passengers have been cancelled," an airport official said.

Tanu Sharma, a police official posted at the airport, said the police has formed teams to negotiate with the stranded passengers and Lufthansa. "We brought both of them together and I am sure there will be a solution soon to the situation."

The airline said in a statement that while it was working to normalize the situation, isolated cancellations or delays in the next two days were still possible.