The 48-hour strike by Lufthansa pilots that began in the early hours of Monday has rippled into the Czech capital, with Václav Havel Airport confirming the cancellation of ten Frankfurt–Prague rotations and eight Munich–Prague rotations. Seznam Zprávy reports that the labour action, organised by the Vereinigung Cockpit union after wage talks stalled, will run until 23:59 on Tuesday. Although Czechia is not Lufthansa territory, the flag-carrier is a crucial connector for Czech business travellers heading to North America, Asia and Africa via its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Mobility managers estimate that hundreds of passengers—including consultants commuting weekly and engineers travelling to client sites—have had to rebook on Austrian Airlines via Vienna, or switch to rail for meetings in southern Germany. The disruption comes on the heels of weather-related delays at Western European hubs last week and compounds pressure on multinational companies that rely on tight connection windows through Central Europe. Airlines are obliged under EU 261 to provide refunds or rerouting, and travel-risk advisers are telling firms to keep detailed records of extra hotel nights or project delays for potential cost-recovery claims. Further turbulence may be ahead: cabin-crew union UFO has called a separate two-day walk-out for 15–16 April. Czech procurement teams are therefore reviewing contingency policies such as pre-approved rental-car use for trips under 500 km and the temporary use of virtual-meeting technology in lieu of site visits. HR departments are also reminding assignees to update their Schengen stay logs in case re-routing alters their time spent in other EU states.
Source: Seznam Zprávy / ČTK
