Lufthansa has canceled 1,511 flights as a result of a strike being held by pilots that runs until midnight on Tuesday, a spokesman for the airline said on Monday.

That's equivalent to around 65 percent of the 2,333 flights it would normally operate during the strike.

Pilots' union VC had initially planned to strike only on short-haul routes on Monday and Tuesday but earlier on Monday extended the strike to include long-haul flights.