Strikes forced the Lufthansa-owned company to cancel flights affecting some 40,000 passengers.

BRITS’ holiday plans have been thrown into chaos after strikes forced German airline Lufthansa to cancel hundreds of flights.

The cancellation of 400 flights of its budget unit Eurowings is believed to affect some 40,000 passengers.

The airline said the flights have been cancelled for today, including most connections inside Germany.

Many of its European flights have also been cancelled but long-distance services and those from Frankfurt and Munich are not affected.

The UFO union called the 24-hour strike starting at midnight after arbitration failed to achieve an agreement late yesterday.

The airline operates out of UK airports including Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow.

Your rights if your flight is cancelled:

If your flight is cancelled (and it departed from the EU or you were flying with an EU airline) then it has to find you an alternative flight.

It should also provide you with assistance, such as refreshments and accommodation, if necessary.

If your flight is delayed for more than three hours then under EU rules you could be entitled up to £540 in compensation. The airline may wriggle out of it if the delay was due to actions outside of its control, for example, a hurricane or severe weather.

The amount you can claim varies, depending on how far you were flying and length of the delay.

You can either contact the airline directly, or use a free online reclaiming tool like Resolver.co.uk or ASpokesmansaid.com. You should keep your receipts and any evidence to make a claim.

The Sun: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2060087/thousands-of-brits-face-travel-chaos-as-budget-airline-cancels-hundreds-of-flights-over-row-with-cabin-crew/