More than 180 flight cancellations at Lufthansa's Germanwings

Cabin crew are striking for three days amid wage talks with management

German cabin crew union UFO is demanding higher wages, especially for entry-level jobs. AFP

More than 180 flights in Germany will be cancelled after cabin crew at Lufthansa's budget airline Germanwings began a three-day strike on Monday.

The employees are frustrated at a lack of progress with Lufthansa management over wage talks.

"First 35 flights were cancelled, then 54, now 170, meaning Germanwings will only manage 7 per cent of its original flight operations today," a spokesman for the UFO union told Reuters.

"That should be a sign for the Lufthansa group. Your employees are really angry. You finally have to change something."

A live list on the carrier's website showed 182 flights between major German cities including Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich were slashed as the union called members to strike.

"We could prolong it at short notice," Daniel Flohr, deputy head of the union, told public broadcaster ZDF. "We don't want that."

Some connections to neighbouring Austria and Switzerland, including Zurich and Vienna, were also cut.

Germanwings is set to be merged into Eurowings over the long term.

About 15 per cent of Eurowings flights over the three days were affected by the walkout, a company spokesman told AFP.

The situation at major airports was calm with no queues, he said, as many passengers were able to book on trains or other Lufthansa airlines.

"People were well informed," the spokesman said. "We hope things stay this stable."

There has already been a brief "warning strike" at four Lufthansa subsidiaries, while workers at the group's flagship airline walked out for two days in November, affecting 1,500 flights and 200,000 passengers.