Lufthansa has been forced to cancel around 600 flights today due to strike action by ground staff, baggage handlers and maintenance workers.
Public services sector union Verdi has called for a strike among its members in a long-running dispute over pay.
As a result of the industrial action, Lufthansa said it is cancelling "almost all domestic and European flights" scheduled before 1400 at both Frankfurt and Munich airports.
It also expects its bases in Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover and Stuttgart to face "significant" disruptions.
The German carrier has advised anyone travelling today to visit lufthansa.com and check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport.
Verdi said it expects around 1,400 people to take part in the strike action at Frankfurt airport alone.
Lufthansa said the strike would cost it "millions of euros". A walkout last month by security staff at Frankfurt airport, which brought chaos to the terminal as people were unable to get through security checks, cost the carrier three million euros in operating profit.
Last week, Lufthansa pilots voted to strike over pay and working conditions although the Vereinigung Cockpit union has yet to set a date.
The airline earlier this month unveiled its new long-haul premium economy seat at the ITB trade fair in Berlin (see news, March 5).
Tom Newcombe
