Lufthansa halts half of its scheduled flights

German airline Lufthansa cancelled around half of its scheduled flights Friday as a 24-hour strike by cabin crew got under way, a company spokesman said.Frankfurt airport, Lufthansas main hub and Europes third-busiest airport, was most affected by the stoppages, the spokesman said. But the head of the striking UFO labour union insisted that the situation in Frankfurt nevertheless remained relatively calm, as the carrier had obviously made better preparations this time round, which is the third separate day of walkouts since the industrial action began a week ago.On average, there are 1,800 Lufthansa flights during a normal day, around half of these flights will take place, said the Lufthansa spokesman. All German regions and all types of flights are affected, he said, including long-haul flights which in the past strikes have been the least disturbed by the stoppages.The strike began at midnight (2200 GMT), but its effect overnight was minimal as there were no overnight flights scheduled. Already on Thursday, the carrier had cancelled around 50 flights ahead of the planned walkout by cabin crew at six major airports as the long-running dispute escalated. And the Lufthansa spokesman said that around 13 flights were also expected to be cancelled on Saturday due to the knock-on effects of Fridays walkouts.While unions and management had been in contact on Thursday, there is nothing new to report on the state of negotiations, the spokesman said. The head of the UFO labour union, Nicoley Baublies, however, said he had sensed clear signals that Lufthansa is willing to move.Well see whether there can be talks this weekend, he said. Well do everything we can on our side. We have the impression that management are interested, he said.