Irish holidaymakers face disruption as BA strike threat looms

Irish holidaymakers face considerable disruption next month, with strikes at British Airways and Heathrow Airport on the cards, coupled with possible industrial action at Ryanair.

BA pilots who are members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) voted in favour of industrial action resulting from a disagreement over pay. BA sought an injunction to prevent the strike but was unsuccessful in the UK’s high court. It plans to appeal that result.

Although Balpa said it would give BA one last chance before setting any strike dates, it wants a commitment to negotiate on pilots’ pay by the end of this week. If it intends to pursue a strike, it will have to give the airline two weeks’ notice.

Such action would cause serious disruption for Irish passengers travelling through Heathrow. On Thursday alone, for example, 13 flights are scheduled from Dublin to the UK capital, with a further 12 scheduled on Friday including one to Manchester.

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Those flights to Heathrow could be further disrupted in the short term if strikes planned for the airport go ahead. Strikes for this weekend have been called off so about 4,000 workers can vote on a new pay offer, but two more strikes, scheduled for August 5th and 23rd, remain until the result of the ballot is known.

Top destination

According to data from the Central Statistics Office, in July, August and September 2018, more than 243,000 passengers flew from Dublin to Heathrow. The airport was also Cork's top arrival and departure destination, with almost 58,000 passengers flying there in the period.

While it is not clear how many passengers BA fly in and out of Dublin, post-recession figures suggested capacity on the route could carry up to 600,000 passengers per year.

However, the concern isn’t limited to those flying to London itself. Heathrow typically handles a substantial volume of traffic for those on transatlantic flights, whereby Irish consumers use the airport to transfer on to another destination.

Asked what routes or flights might be disrupted, a British Airways spokesman told The Irish Times: “There is no confirmation of disruption at this stage, as Balpa have agreed to not issue dates until our appeal has been heard.”

Problems for Irish travellers could be further compounded if Irish-based Ryanair pilots ballot for strike action in a row over pay, following their British colleagues.

The vote by members of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) is due to end on August 9th, indicating that any stoppages could begin in the middle of next month. In the UK, Balpa indicated that its Ryanair action would not take place before the week of August 19th.