Chaos was witnessed outside Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on the intervening night of Friday after Lufthansa flights scheduled for Frankfurt & Munich were cancelled. About 150 people gathered at gate no 1 of the terminal and demanded refund of money or alternate flight arrangements for their relatives who were stuck due to the cancellation.
Two flights, LH 761(Delhi to Frankfurt) and LH 763 (Delhi to Munich) were cancelled on Friday by the airlines.
"On enquiry, it was found that two flights of Lufthansa airlines were cancelled. LH 761 (Delhi to Frankfurt) having 300 passengers and scheduled departure at 2.50 AM and another Lufthansa flight LH 763 (Delhi to Munich) having 400 passengers and scheduled departure at 1.10 AM cancelled," said an official, as reported by ANI
About 700 passengers were stranded at the IGI airport as Lufthansa Airlines cancelled 800 flights globally due to a one-day strike by its pilots, reported news agency ANI.
"An information was received at IGI Airport at 12.15 AM in which it was conveyed that crowd has gathered on the main road in front of Departure gate no. 1 Terminal 3 IGI Airport. On reaching the spot it was found that approx 150 persons were present there and because of this, the traffic moment was slowed down. The crowd was demanding for a refund of money or alternate arrangement to be made for their relatives who were present inside the Terminal building," airport police was quoted as saying by the news agency.
The cancelation of flights has affected 130,000 passengers globally. Disruption are also likely on Saturday and Sunday said airlines officials, as reported by ANI.
The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has been demanding a 5.5 per cent pay rise this year for its more than 5,000 pilots, but negotiations have failed.