Ryanair has branded a planned strike by AENA airport workers in Spain as “selfish”.
AENA workers plan to strike over the Easter period in protest against privatisation plans for some Spanish airports.
Irish no-frills carrier has called on the European Union Commission to ensure the strikes don’t cause cancellations and delays to passengers.
Ryanair also criticised the handling of strikes in Spain and across Europe by air traffic control staff last year, which it said resulted in thousands of flight cancellations and delays.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, said action must be taken at EU level to ensure that the ‘right to strike’ is removed from essential airport services.
“Competition must be introduced across Europe’s ATC providers to ensure that a strike in one country is not allowed to disrupt millions of passengers’ travel plans,” said O’Leary.
The system should also allow one country to manage the airspace of neighbouring countries during industrial action, he said, to prevent delays and cancellations.