Berlin - German airports faced severe disruptions at the height of the holiday season Monday as ground and cabin staff at Lufthansa, the country's largest airline, went on strike for higher pay.

The strike, which began at midnight, targeted the main hubs at Frankfurt and Hamburg although Munich, Dusseldorf and Cologne-Bonn were also to be affected.

The services trade union Verdi said its main aim was not to cause cancellations but to hit the company financially. It is demanding a substantial pay rise for 50,000 workers.

Lufthansa said it had taken emergency measures, transferring passengers to other flights, shifting staff to cover gaps and possibly using the catering services of other airlines. It added that the tickets of domestic passengers could be used on the national rail network.

Pilots were not involved in the strike. In a separate strike, pilots at two Lufthansa subsidiaries came out on strike for 36 hours last week, causing 900 flights to be cancelled.

Lufthansa has offered 6.7 per cent more pay over a 21-month contract plus a one-off payment. Verdi, Germany's second-largest union with 2.2 million members, is demanding 9.8-per-cent raises over 12 months.

As the strike began, it was unclear how many workers would heed the call to walk off their jobs. A smaller union, UFO, which claims 10,000 members, was not participating in the strike.

Verdi spokesman Harald Reutter said the union wanted to hit Lufthansa financially by forcing the company to outsource catering and maintenance.

"That would really cost money," Reutter said Sunday.

The strike coincides with increasing pressure on airlines facing high fuel bills as the world economy slows. (dpa)