German flag-carrier Lufthansa has been forced to cancel the vast majority of its flights today after a strike by ground staff.

Just 32 flights were scheduled to depart, out of the 1,700 originally planned.

German airports affected are Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf and Hamburg.

Only 20 of the airline’s planned 1,650 short-haul flights are to go ahead, while 12 of its 73 scheduled long-haul flights will do so.

Ground staff at the airline have called a one-day strike amid an ongoing pay dispute with the airline.

Lufthansa called the action “disproportionate”.

Last week the airline rejected union demands for a 5.2 per cent wage increase over the next 12 months.

Strikers are also looking for guarantees over job cuts.