A potential strike at Ryanair across several European countries could cause misery for UK travellers.
Already; easyJet, Ryanair and British Airways were among the airlines affected by strikes in Italy on Wednesday, with dozens of flights cancelled. Now, reports suggest Ryanair staff could stage a walkout this summer.
According to Bloomberg, two Spanish unions have joined forces with five workers’ organizations in Belgium, France, Italy and Portugal to prepare for a strike.
READ MORE: Travel warning to anyone thinking of booking a summer trip
However, Ryanair has since said they "do not expect widespread disruption this summer".
On Wednesday, Ryanair scrapped a handful of flights between Italy and Stansted. A Ryanair spokesman said: "Due to air traffic control (ATC) strikes at Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Turin, Verona, Genoa, Cuneo and Parma airports, we have regrettably been forced to cancel a number of flights on Wednesday.
"These ATC strikes are completely beyond our control and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience they will inevitably cause."
Aviation workers who are members of two Italian unions are staging a strike from 10am until 2pm over various issues including pay, sick pay, time off and refreshments.
One of the unions, the Italian Union of Transport Workers (UILT), has warned that if an agreement is not reached, "this will be only the first of a series of protest actions".
The boss of Cornwall Airport Newquay admitted the industry should have been better prepared to prevent travel chaos, but is optimistic that the situation will improve in time for summer getaways. Tim Jeans told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We should have planned better, we should have understood that the peak would come back, particularly this summer, but it came back earlier than people anticipated."
He added that some airlines, airports and ground handlers "have, frankly, been caught out". He said: "I don't think you could lay this all at the door of the Government; we've had to resource our operations better than we did over the Easter and half-term break."
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