Ryanair cancels 80 flights to Catalan airports in strike

Ryanair cabin crew is on strike July 25 and 26, and 80 flights in Catalan airports have been cancelled – 66 at the Barcelona airport, and 14 in the northern town of Girona, while that of Reus saw no cancellations.

In total, more than 17,000 passengers have been affected: 15,000 in the Catalan capital, and 2,000 in Girona. The cancelled flights also represent some 30% of habitual activity for the company at the Barcelona airport and 25% in Girona – the latter being a smaller airport, but holding the majority of the Irish airline’s business.

At the Barcelona airport, ultimately 132 flights from Ryanair will take off, representing some 12% of the total flights that were supposed to be airborne today.

On July 26, the second and final day of the strike, some 60 flights are expected to be cancelled at the Barcelona airport, one in Reus, while no numbers have been yet forecast for Girona. 

Protest in the airport

All this while Ryanair workers protested at the Barcelona airport, asking for a Spanish contract as opposed to the current Irish regulations, to which they are subjected, and which include lack of access to social security or mortgages. Union representatives also voiced concerns with Ryanair’s fiscal presence in Spain.

The representative from the Barcelona USO air sector union, Ricardo Oso, asked “Where are the taxes that Ryanair should be paying in Spain, and they don’t pay a single penny?” He continued by saying that “on the contrary, they get subsidies from many autonomous communities to fly here, and in exchange, Ryanair doesn’t pay a single penny in Spain.”

Regards the airline’s behavior in Ireland, the union representative said that Ryanair “crosses the line constantly,” which means that, he went on, the workers “have nobody to complain to, to claim their rights to.” He ended by saying that this is “because the Irish authorities do whatever they want.”

New strike in Ireland

In full swing of the strike Ryanair also announced it would be laying off some 300 workers in Ireland, reducing its Dublin fleet by 20%. As a response, a new strike has been called for August 3 by the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association.