450 f lights grounded by the largest strike in Ryanair’s history
RYANAIR passengers were left stranded yesterday as the biggest strike in the airline’s 33-year history wrecked travel plans for around 75,000 people.
A protest by pilots in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Sweden grounded more than 450 flights – around a sixth of its daily schedule.
Many British holidaymakers were among thousands affected on routes to and from destinations such as Dublin and Berlin. It came as airline bosses warned of a ‘summer of discontent’ for Europe’s aviation industry, with strikes by air traffic controllers grounding planes across the Continent.
Ryanair said 85 per cent of its schedule was operating as normal and that the majority of customers have been offered other flights or will be given refunds.
However, the airline has insisted the strikes qualify as ‘extraordinary circumstances’, meaning passengers are exempt from EU compensation rules.
But this has been slapped down by the Civil Aviation Authority, which has stipulated that, as the strikes are by Ryanair’s own employees, it is responsible for paying compensation. The watchdog urged affected passengers to claim payouts of 250 euros (£225) for journeys up to 1,500km or 400 euros (£360) for longer trips.
Yesterday examples emerged of passengers being forced to postpone or cancel their holidays or being left stranded abroad as alternative flights were not available on the same day. Some passengers racing to find alternative flights have been forced to pay hugely inflated fares. Emily Dutton, 27, said she was forced to miss her best friend’s wedding in Sweden after her Ryanair flight from Stansted was cancelled and other options proved unaffordable.
Ryanair avoided widespread strikes before Christmas by agreeing to recognise unions for the first time but trouble has continued to flare up this summer. The airline said the strikes were ‘ regrettable and unjustified’ and called for unions to come back to the negotiating table. It says pilots are paid up to £171,000 a year – at least 20 per cent more than some other budget airlines.
The disruption comes after air traffic controllers, the bulk of whom are in France, have staged an unprecedented 29 days of walkouts in the first half of the year over pay and conditions. Airlines estimate this has caused 6,000 flights to be cancelled, with millions affected by knock on delays.
Thomas Reynaert, managing director of industry body Airlines 4 Europe, told the Mail: ‘This spring’s season of discontent is threatening to spill over into summer unless ATC and air traffic management-related delays across Europe are dealt with.’
A Ryanair spokesman apologised for the ‘unnecessary disruption’, saying: ‘Ryanair took every step to minimise the disruption and we notified our customers as early as possible, advising them of their free move, refund or reroute options.’