Tuifly had suffered from large-scale delays and cancellations for days after many crew members called in sick because of a planned restructuring. On Saturday, 24 flights were cancelled at Düsseldorf and Cologne/Bonn, the two largest airports in North Rhine Westphalia. A week ago, it was announced Tuifly was to be incorporated into a new umbrella company under Etihad management. Employee representatives feared job losses and criticised the vague information.

On Friday, Tui responded to employee demands with a location and pay guarantee for at least three years. A decision about the planned reorganisation was delayed until November.

A Tui spokesman said the number of those registering as sick was decreasing. The company assumed it would also be able to offer a full service in the next few days. A restructuring of the airline will be discussed in the coming weeks. Tuifly ground staff said they were pleased there was now a dialogue but that negotiations were ongoing.

The “Bild am Sonntag” paper said 450 Tuifly employees were still registered sick at the weekend. A total of around 2000 sick days had been registered in a week. The problems at Tuifly also led to cancellations with its partner Air Berlin. The reason: a third of the Tui fleet, including crew, flies for the Berlin airline.

(Original text: dpa. Translated by Kate Carey.)