Cabin crew working for Germanwings are set to go on strike next week over pay and conditions, the trade union UFO said on Friday.

The industrial action that will start Monday and last for 72 hours, spanning New Year's Eve and 1 January, threatens to play havoc with the end-of-year holiday plans of passengers booked with the budget airline.

Germanwings employees would strike from 2300 GMT on Sunday until 2300 GMT on Wednesday after protracted negotiations with the owner Lufthansa and its subsidiaries failed.

Both sides agreed to arbitration talks last month in an attempt to avert further strikes but union officials lamented over the lack of progress.

Detlef Kayser, a Lufthansa board member said in an emailed statement that the union had failed to put in writing their demands.

"We won't move forward this way," he said.

Lufthansa cabin crew stopped work for two days in November, forcing the cancellation of one in five flights and bringing misery to some 200,000 passengers. The strike cost the airline up to $22 million.