Ryanair cancels 400 flights in Spain due to cabin crew strike next week

Ryanair has announced it is canceling flights across Europe due to a notified cabin crew strike in Spain, Belgium and Portugal scheduled for July 25 and 26. The low-cost carrier said that up to 400 flights will be grounded in Spain over the course of both days. Each day, up to 200 of over 830 daily flights will be grounded.

There will also be up to 50 cancellations of Ryanair’s more than 180 daily flights to and from Portugal, and up to 50 more of its 160 daily flights to or from Belgium.

There will also be up to 50 cancellations of Ryanair’s more than 180 daily flights to and from Portugal, and up to 50 more of its 160 daily flights to or from Belgium

The airline has contacted around 50,000 passengers planning to travel to or from Belgium, Portugal and Spain on each of those days, to give them a seven-day notice about their flight cancellation. Customers may choose to travel on another flight, or request a full refund.Ryanair said in a release that it has added extra staff to deal with the reaccomodations and refunds.

“Ryanair sincerely apologizes to our customers for these disruptions which we have done our utmost to avoid,” said marketing director Kenny Jacobs. According to company calculations, 88% of customers in Europe will not be affected by the strikes, although Spanish unions behind the stoppage are casting doubt on this figure.

The striking employees in Spain have Irish work contracts, and as such are not subject to the labor regulations of Spain. This had cast doubts over whether staff would cover the minimum level of services required under Spanish law.

State legal services have been asked to produce a report to determine whether Spanish legislation covering minimum services during strikes such as this one is applicable, as this is an unprecedented situation in Spain.