Pilot walkout grounds Lufthansa flights

MUNICH, Germany, July 23 (UPI) -- Lufthansa says a strike by German pilots that began Tuesday forced the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights.

Members of the German airline pilots union walked off their jobs at midday Tuesday in a continuing pay dispute with two Lufthansa subsidiaries, Eurowings and CityLine, euronews.net reports.

Earlier this month the union staged a 24-hour walkout forcing the airline to cancel more than 600 flights.

The strike follows the breakdown in talks and is due to last until Wednesday evening.

Lufthansa says it has offered CityLine pilots a 5 1/2 percent pay hike over 18 months. Eurowings pilots have been offered a 6 1/2 percent pay raise over two years.