Belgian crew strike prompts Ryanair flight cancellations

A cabin crew strike prompted Ryanair to cancel some flights from Belgian airports this weekend.

Ryanair’s Belgian cabin crew, represented by trade union CNE/ACV Puls, began a three-day strike on Friday blaming a breakdown in talks with the airline.

The Irish carrier cancelled flights from Charleroi and Brussels Zaventem airports, dubbing the strike " unnecessary".

Ryanair did not say how many flights it cancelled from the airports but confirmed that more than half of them would operate as scheduled this weekend.

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Local media reports claimed that about two of three were halted from Charleroi on Friday and 10 from Brussels on Saturday.

The Irish group employs 650 people in Belgium and more than 400 of them are cabin crew. Unions clashed with Ryanair during talks on renewing a collective deal governing crews' pay and conditions.

Ryanair said it gave CNE proposals on several improvements for its members on Friday, April 15th, but the union walked out of the talks.

The airline maintained that CNE began “unnecessary strike action” without attempting further negotiation or mediation.

Expired agreement

Earlier this week union officials accused Ryanair of failing to invest in acceptable working conditions for staff.

A collective agreement negotiated by the company and unions expired at the end of last year. The sides had been in talks since 2021 on a renewed deal.

Ryanair is emailing customers to outline their options, including flight changes or refunds. The company added that passengers can also check their flight’s status on its app.

Darrell Hughes, Ryanair's people officer argued that CNE seemed intent on causing unwarranted disruption to thousands of passengers.

“Having worked closely with our people through a difficult Covid recovery phase, CNE should now be working with Ryanair to deliver negotiated solutions instead of engaging in this premature and pointless strike,” he said.

Mr Hughes called on the union to cancel its industrial action, saying the airline remained available for talks or mediation.

It was not possible to contact the trade union for a comment.