Air traffic strikes hit Irish flights

Strikes by air traffic controllers in Belgium and Spain have led to the cancellation of a number of Irish flights.

Strikes by air traffic controllers in Belgium and Spain have led to the cancellation of a number of Irish flights.

Aer Lingus has also cancelled flights between Dublin and Brussels today as a result of strike action by air traffic controllers in Belgium. The strike will continue until 3pm tomorrow affecting numbers flights in and out of Brussels.

The airline confirmed further cancellations this evening. Tomorrow's EI 630 and EI 631 flights between Dublin and Brussels have been cancelled and travellers are being contacted by SMS and email.

Passengers flying to Spain tomorrow face significant disruption as a result of a 24-hour general strike in the country. The strike has been called following austerity measures by the country’s socialist government. It also plans to introduce labour market reform, including a rise in the retirement age.

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A number of Aer Lingus flights between Barcelona, Malaga, Madrid and Dublin tomorrow have been cancelled as a result.

Ryanair has cancelled all Spanish domestic flights and most international flights to and from Spain which were due to operate tomorrow. The airline blamed what is said was the "failure" of the Spanish government to
ensure minimum service guarantees for non-Spanish airlines' flights.

Ryanair said it was contacting passengers by email and will publish a full list of flight cancelations on its website "as soon as possible."

There is likely to be more disruption for air passengers as French unions have announced two new one-day stoppages on October 2nd and October 12th in protest at the government’s pension reform plan. Last week thousands of flights were cancelled as a result of similar strike.

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times