BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa suffered losses of 250 million euros ($271 million) so far this year due to strikes, according to the estimates of the airline's finance chief Remco Steenbergen.
"Due to numerous strikes - especially at Lufthansa Airlines - we not only lost capacity for our customers in the first quarter, but also a three-digit million euro amount," he said in a statement for employees of the company seen by Reuters.
In addition to 100 million euros in direct costs, there were also losses in bookings for passenger flights and air freight orders because customers avoided the airline due to uncertainty about the strikes.
"No one can simply recoup around 250 million euros," said the CFO.
Ground staff walked off the job at major airports twice last month, which Lufthansa said had affected 100,000 passengers. There were also strikes of cabin crews and aviation security staff at several airports in March.
From Monday, Lufthansa and the Verdi union will try to reach a consensus in the wage dispute over more money for ground staff through arbitration.
($1 = 0.9211 euros)