British holidaymakers planning on travelling to Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain are being warned of possible disruption as various flights are expected to be cancelled due to strikes.
Ryanair cabin crews in the five European hotspots are set to go on strike, with Belgium being the latest to announce plans to strike that could affect UK fliers - the earliest date set for this Friday, June 24. The boss of the budget airline, Michael O'Leary, warned chaos will continue "right throughout the summer" and passengers should brace for a "less than satisfactory experience".
It comes as the UK has already faced weeks of disruption that has plagued the travel industry, with numerous airlines cancelling thousands of flights due to staff shortages caused by job cuts during the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, around 30 flights carrying up to 5,000 passengers at Heathrow Airport were cancelled as a result of baggage-handling problems.
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Mr O'Leary added: "This problem is going to continue particularly at airports like Gatwick and Heathrow right throughout the summer. It will be worse at weekends and better during the week. There are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK that frankly British workers don't want to do. These problems will not be resolved until we start allowing people in to do the jobs."
Earlier this month in Belgium, he also said: "We operate two and half thousand flights every day. Most of those flights will continue to operate even if there is a strike in Spain by some Mickey Mouse union or if the Belgian cabin crew unions want to go on strike over here."
A spokeswoman from Ryanair said: "We do not expect widespread disruption this summer. These minority union strikes are not supported by our crews."
EasyJet cabin crews in Spain are also expected to go on strike for nine days next month, at the peak of the summer holiday season . Staff of the budget airline are set to walk out in three phases across July - between July 1 and 3, July 15 and 17, and July 29 and 31.
The EasyJet walkout has been organised by the Spanish USO union, with news of the strike announced just days after the tour operator revealed it would be cutting an estimated 11,000 flights from its summer schedules. EasyJet's Spanish crew get basic pay of €950 per month (£816), the union said, which excludes bonuses and extra pay. However, the union has said it is looking for a 40 per cent pay rise in low-paid cabin staff’s basic wage.
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