Lufthansa Pilots strike, Left thousands of Passengers Stranded

The striking pilots of German carrier flight, Lufthansa has extended their strike action to Friday leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

According to Al Jazeera, just over half of the carrier's scheduled 1,400 domestic and European flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich were grounded on Wednesday, affecting around 80,000 passengers.

The pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced late on Wednesday that the suspension of short- and medium-haul flights would be extended to Friday, in addition the one-day stoppage initially planned is set to continue throughout Thursday, when it will shift to target long-haul and cargo services.

Flights operated by Lufthansa's subsidiaries Germanwings, Eurowings, Swiss and Austrian Airlines were not affected, even as they've been called to cover the routes affected by the strike action.

This is the 12th strike action to hit Lufthansa since last April over management plans to change the pilots' transitional pension arrangements.

The dispute hinges on plans by Lufthansa to scrap an arrangement under which pilots can retire at 55 and receive up to 60 percent of their pay until they reach the statutory retirement age of 65.