Ryanair strike: Warning for South Yorkshire holidaymakers as crews for five European countries declare walkout

A mass walkout is expected over the weekend by crews staffing flights from the UK to five European countries

Trade unions representing cabin crews in Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain will refuse to work this weekend (June 25-26).

It comes as EasyJet staff have also declared a nine-day walkout in Spain during peak holiday season in July.

Will the airline strikes affect Doncaster Sheffield Airport?

Neither of the strikes affect Doncaster Sheffield Airport. However, the terminal was rocked earlier this month after airline WizzAir cancelled all flights from the South Yorkshire runway over disputes between executives.

And, new figures have revealed two our of five flights at DSA were delayed in April, amounting to some 202 flights.

Aviation experts say it is a lack of trained and vetted staff, both within airports and on airlines, that is at the root of the problems.

Ryan Air’s staff are walking out over labour conditions and are asking for a raise, after years of being paid at the minimum wage.

Crews also refused to work on June 12-13, which resulted in 40 flights being cancelled.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has been dismissive of the strikes.

He said earlier this month in Belgium: “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 spokesperson from Ryanair said it had collective workplace agreements in place covering 90 percent of its European staff and was in talks to improve labour conditions.

Meanwhile, this week saw the biggest railway strike in 30 years, resulting in an 80 per cent reduction of services. The strike is set to resume on Thursday and Saturday.

On June 21, the Government set out plans which aim to prevent last-minute flight cancellations during the summer peak by giving airlines an “amnesty” to hand back flight planning slots and call off flights they are not confident they can carry due to short staffing, which could help give passengers more time to find alternative arrangements.