BERLIN – Lufthansa has cancelled more than 200 short-haul flights as a result of a planned six-hour ****** by pilots at Frankfurt airport, its main hub.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union called pilots on Lufthansa’s short-haul fleet out on ****** from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. (1500 to 2100 GMT) Friday. The ******* cancelled a raft of flights to and from Frankfurt, the last on Saturday morning.

The walkout is part of a dispute over the pilots’ demand that Lufthansa keep paying a transition payment for those wanting to retire early. The *******, which faces tough competition from European budget airlines and major Gulf airlines, wants to cut those payments.

The pilots are also asking for a salary increase of 10 per cent. They staged a ****** last week at Lufthansa’s Germanwings subsidiary.