‘42,000 f lyers could be affected by action’

UP TO 42,000 passengers on 120 Irish flights could be affected if Ryanair pilots go ahead with a strike next week, a travel expert has said.

About 100 pilots are to strike for the first time next Thursday, July 12, in a row over new working practices.

Eoghan Corry, editor of tourism website TravelExtra.ie, said: ‘The total number of cancellations, if all the flights were to go, would cause disruption to 21,000 passengers in each direction.

‘That’s 21,000 people departing Dublin and 21,000 arriving into Dublin.’

He added: ‘The reality is these guys are not even in the ring yet, they are just eyeballing each other at the weigh in, so what we have is the Irish Air Line Pilots Association [Ialpa] finding out how much support they have and Ryanair working out how well they can resist an Ialpa strike.’

The strike is expected to cause chaos for thousands of families booked to go on holidays just as schools finish up, but Ryanair has reacted to their concerns by insisting only Irish passengers – or those flying to or from here – will be affected if the industrial action goes ahead.

The Irish Daily Mail has contacted Ryanair on several occasions to ask how many passengers are facing disruption. It has not yet responded to the queries.

Ryanair has told customers it would announce next Tuesday whether flights will go ahead the following Thursday.

The airline, of which Michael O’Leary is CEO, operates approximately 2,000 daily flights, and it is not yet known how many will be affected.

Yesterday Ryanair revealed that air-traffic control strikes left more than 210,000 passengers with facing flight cancellations last month, compared with just 41 passengers in June 2017.

Shares in the airline are down 21% from an all-time high last August following a the rostering fiasco that led to hundreds of flight cancellations.

Ryanair stock closed the day flat yesterday at €15.50.