The airline said some of its flights from Ireland to the UK would be affected. Passengers are being offered alternative flights or the option to transfer to ferries, where possible.
Belfast flights are not being affected by the Ryanair pilots strike.
In a statement on its website, Ryanair said it couldn’t rule out further disruption in July and August. It had tried to avert the strike by pilots by offering to meet with their union Forsa today or tomorrow, but it said it had received confirmation the strike was still going ahead.
Ryanair added: “We have tried to avert this disruption, which is unnecessary given Ryanair pilots’ and their union FORSA has received written proposals on seniority, annual leave and base transfers, which are what FORSA claims are the reasons for this strike, yet FORSA has rejected 21 separate invitations to meet Ryanair to negotiate these documents.
“Ryanair pilots have already secured a 20% pay increase, earn up to €200,000 p.a., work 5 days-on, followed by four days-off, enjoy rapid promotions and unmatched job security. In a final effort to avert this strike, we have agreed to meet our pilots and FORSA at a neutral venue kindly provided by Dublin Airport, but we believe this small group of pilots and FORSA are determined to disrupt the travel of Irish customers on 12th July.”
Ryanair claims Aer Lingus pilots, who are members of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, are behind the strike and have been planning industrial action at Ryanair before the result of the strike ballot was known.
“It is unacceptable that competitor airline pilots are actively organising strikes by Ryanair’s pilots when these airlines will be the direct beneficiaries of any such disruption,” it added.
The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) have commented on the announcement of that 30 Irish-UK Ryanair flights have been cancelled on Thursday, 12th July while flights travelling to the rest of Europe remain unaffected.
Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA, said: “While these cancellations will affect 30 flights to the UK on Thursday, we feel a sense of relief that holidaymakers to Europe will not be impacted by this strike. We hope that while prospective travellers to the UK are experiencing disruption to their flights, adjustments can be readily made to travel plans and they receive the customer support they require.”
He continued, “On this occasion, the impact of this strike has been minimised for our travel agent members but the ITAA continue to call for reconciliation between pilots and the airline to reduce the threat of further action, which is very unsettling for Irish holidaymakers.”
