Ryanair Strikes Cause 250 Flight Cancellations

Strikes in six countries have caused the cancellation of 250 Ryanair flights, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

The coordinated 24-hour strikes involve Ryanair cabin crew based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. The low cost airline had already cancelled 150 flights due to that industrial action but Germany-based pilots joined the Friday stoppage, causing the cancellation of another 100 flights.

Ryanair said 35,000 passengers were affected by the strikes, with about 90 percent of its flights still operating normally.

The Irish airline said the strikes “have been called by unions at the behest of competitor airline employees.”

It said that in Spain a Norwegian cabin crew member in Alicante is driving the strike, in Portugal a TAP employee is calling for strikes without the support of Portuguese cabin crew, and in Italy the strike has been called by a small union that has no recognition or support from Italian cabin crew.

Ryanair has already agreed a number of collective labour agreements with employee groups in Europe after it made a surprise announcement in December that it would recognise cabin crew and pilot unions.