A spokeswoman for Lufthansa said the strike would end on Saturday morning at 4.45 am (0345 GMT). She said the stoppage on Friday had not affected any of Lufthansa's 17 daily flights to and from Paris.

Lufthansa, like other airlines hit by the economic downturn in Europe and increasing competition from low-cost carriers and Gulf airlines, is cutting costs to improve annual operating profit by 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion).

The carrier operates between 1,700 and 1,800 flights around the world per day.

($1 = 0.7322 euros)

(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; writing by Maria Sheahan; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)