Ryanair Cancels More Europe Flights Due to Strikes

Budget carrier Ryanair said it would cancel 190 flights across Europe on Friday due to more employee strikes.

The airline said the canceled flights will affect 30,000 passengers, all of whom have been notified of the disruption via email or text. Friday's cancellations represent about 8% of the airline's total European operations.

Employee unions with the Ireland-based carrier will be striking in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Since May and through the summer, Ryanair has faced extensive staff demonstrations from its pilots and cabin crews protesting working conditions across Europe.

Labor unions organizing the strikes have said the airline's “employees are hired by Ryanair or its subsidiaries under contracts governed by countries where they are not based, reducing their leave allowances, causing wage disparities and impeding the workers’ access to state benefits,” the AP reports.

The airline has signed labor agreements with the Italian Airline Pilots Association, which marked the first time Ryanair settled with any labor union in its 30-year history. It also has since settled with several cabin and/or pilots unions in Ireland, the UK and Germany. Over the past several weeks, Ryanair has reached out to pilots' unions in Belgium, Holland, Spain, Portugal and Germany to try to make similar agreements.

The carrier said it "sincerely regrets these unnecessary customer disruptions" caused by the strikes on Friday.

H/T: BBC