Germany's Lufthansa pilots extend strike to long-haul flights

Lufthansa employees wait for customers beside Christmas decoration at the airport in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. German airline Lufthansa said it has cancelled about half of its flights after pilots went on strike in an ongoing dispute over retirement benefits. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) (The Associated Press)

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Passengers stand behind a flight board listing canceled flights at the airport in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. German airline Lufthansa says it has canceled about half of its flights after pilots went on strike in an ongoing dispute over retirement benefits. The airline, Germany's largest, said Monday that 1,350 of its 2,800 flights scheduled through the strike's end Tuesday at midnight have been canceled, affecting 150,000 passengers. The strike was primarily focused on Lufthansa's inner-Europe flights on Monday but was to be extended to long-haul flights Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) (The Associated Press)

Lufthansa employees wait for customers at the airport in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. German airline Lufthansa says it has canceled about half of its flights after pilots went on strike in an ongoing dispute over retirement benefits. The airline, Germany's largest, said Monday that 1,350 of its 2,800 flights scheduled through the strike's end Tuesday at midnight have been canceled, affecting 150,000 passengers. The strike was primarily focused on Lufthansa's inner-Europe flights on Monday but was to be extended to long-haul flights Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – Pilots at German airline Lufthansa have extended their two-day strike to long-haul flights in an ongoing dispute over retirement benefits.

The airline, Germany's biggest, says a total of 1,350 of its 2,800 flights scheduled through the strike's end Tuesday at midnight have been cancelled, affecting 150,000 passengers.

On Monday, the strike was primarily focused on inner-Europe flights. Lufthansa said some of its cargo flights were rescheduled, but none had to be canceled.

Lufthansa says the other airlines in its group — Germanwings, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Air Dolomiti — are not affected.

The strike follows failed talks with the Vereinigung Cockpit union, which is demanding Lufthansa keep paying a transition payment for those wanting to retire early. The airline wants to cut those payments, citing increasingly tough competition.