Aer Lingus had to cancel 13 flights yesterday and another three today due to air traffic control strikes in France, Italy and Spain as well as an outbreak of Covid-19 among its staff.
The airline has apologised for the cancellations.
In a statement, Aer Lingus said it had anticipated the return of demand for travel once Covid restrictions were removed and had built appropriate buffers into its plans in order to deal with a reasonable level of additional disruption.
“This weekend, system pressures from ATC strikes, and ongoing issues at airports and among third party suppliers have regrettably necessitated the cancellation of some flights,” the airline said.
“This pressure on the system has been compounded by a spike in Covid cases among our own teams in the last number of days,” it added.
The airline, which is owned by IAG, said that where cancellations have occurred, it sought to re-accommodate disrupted passengers on the next available alternative service.
Meanwhile, Ryanair said that less than 2% of its flights scheduled between Friday and yesterday were affected by cabin crew strikes, the airline said.
Ryanair cabin crew unions in Belgium, Spain, Portugal, France and Italy had announced plans for action over the weekend with crews in Spain set to strike again on June 30 and July 1-2.
“Less than 2% of Ryanair’s 9,000 flights operating this weekend (24/25/26 June) have been affected by minor and poorly supported crew strikes,” Ryanair said in a statement.
Unions have said the airline does not respect local labour laws covering issues such as the minimum wage and have urged management to improve working conditions.
Ryanair, which told Reuters last week it had negotiated labour agreements covering 90% of its staff across Europe, says it offers staff competitive and fair conditions.
It has said it does not expect widespread disruption this summer.