World Bulletin / News Desk

Half of Air France's long-haul flights out of Paris Thursday will be cancelled due to a strike by pilots, cabin crew and ground staff, the carrier said.

The staff are demanding a 6 percent across-the-board pay increase.

Management is offering a basic increase of 1 percent to be paid in two instalments and a range of incentives, which trade unions have dismissed as "small change".

The Air France-KLM group posted a 42 percent increase in its operating profit to 1.49 billion euros ($1.84 billion) in 2017.