Paris, Sep 16 (IANS): Air France, one of Europe's largest flag carriers, said it would cancel 60 percent of scheduled flights Tuesday as pilots continued to strike over a costs cutting scheme.

In an interview with RTL radio, Alexandre de Juniac, Air France-KLM CEO, said 60 percent of pilots stopped working Tuesday but pledged to run at least 40 percent of flights to and from French airports, Xinhua reported.

"We expect slight improvement Wednesday as we will ensure more than 40 percent of flights function," de Juniac added.

He added the strike would cost Air France-KLM between 10 and 15 million euros ($12.94 and $19.4 million) a day.

On Monday, pilots started a one-week protest move forcing the company to cancel six out of 10 flights. Their union (Spaf) said strikes would continue if negotiations failed to bridge differences over pilots' pay and transferring workers to the group's low-cost Transavia unit.

Last week, Air France-KLM announced a 1 billion-euro investment plan to improve services of Transavia in a bid to become one of the major players among low-cost carriers in Europe.

The investment scheme will create up to 250 new pilot jobs by 2019, according to the company.