Pilots' union calls 2-day strike at Lufthansa's Germanwings

(Adds VC, Lufthansa comment, background)

FRANKFURT, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) called a two-day strike at Lufthansa's Germanwings short-haul budget airline as a long-running row over retirement benefits and the airline's low-cost expansion plans entered a new year.

The pilots said late on Tuesday the strike would run from 2300 GMT on the night of Wednesday Feb. 11 until 2259 GMT on Friday, Feb. 13.

The VC pilots staged 10 strikes last year, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers and costing Lufthansa tens of millions of euros.

VC said in a statement that its attempt to come to an agreement had failed. "Lufthansa thus demonstrates again that it does not want an agreement and is therefore responsible for more strikes," said Joerg Handwerg, a spokesman for VC.

Lufthansa said it was working on a revised flight schedule, to be announced later on Wednesday.

The row between pilots and management concerns early retirement benefits that Lufthansa wants to change for new starters.

The current scheme enables pilots to retire at 55 and still receive a portion of their pay until regular state pension payments kick in. Lufthansa wants to increase the earliest age at which its new pilots can retire to reflect increasing life expectancies.

In a sign of increased tension between the company and some of its most powerful front-line staff, the pilots have also requested that management enter mediation talks on plans for low-cost expansion, which Lufthansa has refused.

The pilots oppose the way in which Lufthansa is pushing through low-cost expansion by using a small unit that is not subject to the same collective labour agreements as pilots at its Lufthansa and Germanwings brands.

Lufthansa, which has twice warned on its 2015 profit target, wants to expand low-cost operations to win back market share lost to the likes of Ryanair and easyJet, which are expanding in its home market.

Air France-KLM (LSE: 0LN7.L - news) has also warned of fierce competition from low-cost carriers and Gulf rivals, saying it saw strong pressure on 2015 revenue. (Reporting By Harro ten Wolde and Victoria Bryan; Editing by Georgina Prodhan, Toni Reinhold)