Six flights were cancelled at Cork Airport between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. yesterday, but they were later rescheduled and there was no major disruption, according to airport management.
Long queues formed at the ticket desks as passengers on four flights to Dublin, and one outbound to Paris as well as one due in from the French capital, were cancelled due to the dispute. A charter flight to Lourdes was allowed to leave the airport on humanitarian grounds.
At Shannon Airport two round trips to Dublin were cancelled, and international flights were delayed after 150 SIPTU members held a four-hour stoppage. At mid-morning most of the workers took part in a march, holding placards, one of which read "Aer Lingus, the low pay airline".
Mr Tom McInerney, Air Lingus general manager, said the airport was surprisingly quiet, with most people having made arrangements beforehand. People waited patiently at the check-in desks for the 2 p.m. deadline to arrive. Flights to London and the US were held up for two hours on average. A Royal Jordanian flight to Amman, Jordan, and a Belavia flight to Minsk, whose check-in arrangements are managed by Aer Lingus staff, were also delayed. "Flights up to 10 a.m. operated normally," Mr McInerney said.
Waiting for the Minsk flight, which was delayed for more than four hours, was a group from the Chernobyl Children's Project which had failed to check in before 10 a.m. due to the queues.