Ryanair has cancelled 190 flights for this Friday because of cabin crew strikes in six countries, described by unions as the biggest strike ever to hit the airline.
Ryanair described the action as an ‘unnecessary strike by a tiny minority of cabin crew in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany’.
“When we can successfully do deals with unions in Ireland, the UK, Germany and Italy, why are some unions in Belgium, Holland and Spain not doing similar deals?”
Ryanair has come under fire for insisting it will not be paying out compensation to affected passengers, despite the CAA saying it should.
Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, said: “These cancellations mean more travel chaos, more unnecessary disruption and more holiday plans in tatters for 30,000 Ryanair passengers – when will this airline finally do right by its customers?
“The airline must now immediately arrange alternative flights or provide a full refund and pay out compensation to those affected – including the many people still waiting for the money they’re owed from its shambolic summer of cancellations.”

During earlier strikes this summer, chief executive Michael O’Leary threatened to move jobs to Poland, a country where industrial action is less common.

“If we have people who just want to have strikes for the sake of having strikes, then they can have strikes and they’ll find themselves [with] jobs getting moved,” he warned.