The ongoing interruptions to travelling this month and throughout summer are set to continue as Ryanair workers will go on strike soon.
Leeds Bradford Airport has seen snaking long queues at the airport, as well as hours of waiting to get through security, delays to flights, and cancelled trips. The ongoing issues, which left two passengers calling the airport a "theme park" earlier this week have been put down to staffing problems.
Earlier this month two Ryanair planes were spotted "stuck" on the runway after one incident left passengers being "trapped" on a plane for 30 minutes. Another instance saw a plane from the same airline with a "blown up" tyre, leaving other departure flights delayed.
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Now, anyone flying with Ryanair this June to July could face further interruption due to a staff strike. Airline staff have plans for industrial action over working conditions and pay.
Ryanair's Spanish cabin staff will be on strike for six days later this month and in early July, main unions said on Monday.
The walkout from June 24 to July 2 follows concerns about working conditions and pay, the USO union said. UK Ryanair staff have not announced a strike, but the industrial action could impact people flying from Britain to Spanish destinations this summer
The news could fuel more anxiety for passengers travelling from Leeds Bradford Airport where ongoing issues have continued into another month, after first prevailing back in April. Demand for flying has bounced back rapidly after the pandemic but businesses have been unable to quickly rehire staff, after thousands were laid off.
The upcoming strikes were announced after Ryanair walked away from talks with the union over what the airline described as "unrealistic demands and refusal to meaningfully engage." The unions claimed the company lacked commitment to the talks. Bloomberg reported that the union also said it would coordinate with other unions in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal.
Ryanair flies to more than 20 airports, including nine bases, in Spain. It has more than 70 domestic routes as well as a large trade in tourists to and from the country, particularly from the UK and Ireland.
Ryanair previously announced a $300m summer schedule investment into Leeds Bradford with 23 total routes including new flights to Barcelona, Paris and Zadar. The airline were expecting to operate more than 95 weekly flights for the summer of 2022 from Leeds Bradford.
The strikes could put additional strain on the airport as it continues to struggle with the rise in passenger numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels, however Ryanair claim the strikes should not dramatically affect services.
The airline insists it is "delivering improvements for Spanish-based cabin crew and reinforcing Ryanair’s commitment to [their] welfare". Bloomberg reported a spokesperson as saying: "Ryanair has negotiated collective agreements covering 90 per cent of our people across Europe.
"In recent months we have been negotiating improvements to those agreements as we work through the Covid recovery phase. Those negotiations are going well and we do not expect widespread disruption this summer.”
"Recent announcements by the much smaller USO and SITCPLA unions are a distraction from their own failures to deliver agreements. We believe that their strike calls will not be supported by our Spanish crews."
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