30 August 2012 Last updated at 04:38 ET

Lufthansa strike to begin on Friday

Lufthansa union leader: "Incredible participation" from cabin crew in pay strike

Cabin staff at German airline Lufthansa will begin their strike action on Friday, the workers' union has said.

The UFO union did not say where the strikes would take place, but said it would give six hours' notice.

"We do not want to give Lufthansa the opportunity to prepare for the strike by getting replacement crews ready," UFO head Nicoley Baublies told Reuters.

The union and the airline have been at loggerheads over the past year over pay and working conditions.

The union is seeking a pay increase of 5% for cabin staff for 15 months starting from January this year, after three years of no increases.

Lufthansa's latest offer was for a pay increase of about 3.5%.

Mr Baublies has also said that the airline has not assured that its staff will not be transferred to a cheaper contract if they move to a low-cost airline in the airline group.

Lufthansa has about 19,000 cabin crew and the UFO union represents about two-thirds of them.

The union has warned that strikes could cause disruption to hundreds of flights.