120 flights cancelled as striking Aer Lingus pilots march around Dublin Airport

More than 120 flights canceled as hundreds of Aer Lingus pilots protested around Dublin Airport in an eight-hour strike in a bitter dispute with the airline over pay .

The pilots, all in full uniform, departed at 6am from Aer Lingus headquarters on the airport site and twice passed both terminals holding signs and banners.

The demonstration, which took place in pouring rain, caused significant traffic disruptions around the airport.

After the march was over, the pilots set up a picket line at the main roundabout at the entrance to the airport.

The strike, which began at 5am and ended at 1pm, comes a day after primary schools closed for the summer holidays as thousands prepare to go abroad.

The work stoppage led to the cancellation of 120 flights, impacting up to 17,000 passengers.

During Saturday’s all-out strike, pilots were involved in an indefinite work action that began on Wednesday. Nearly 400 flights have been cancelled so far, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

Despite calls from Taoiseach Simon Harris to “dig deep” to resolve the conflict, no progress has been made.

An invitation to attend an employment tribunal meeting on Monday, which was issued on Friday as the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) disputes committee considered escalation.

The union officially accepted the invitation and agreed not to escalate the situation “at this stage”, but said Saturday’s strike and zealous work would continue.

Aer Lingus and the Forsa union, with which Ialpa is associated, also accepted the invitation.

Ialpa President Mark Tighe said he did not know whether they would be in the same room or not, as previous meetings had seen management and drivers hold discussions separately.

The pilots were demanding a 24% pay increase, which they say is equivalent to inflation since the last pay increase in 2019. In recent days, they have indicated they would be willing to accept a lesser increase, but there remains a significant gap between their position and that of their management.

Aer Lingus said it was prepared to offer pay rises of 12.25% or more if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” were discussed.

One obstacle is that the pilots’ union has said its mandate is to refrain from discussing productivity, while the airline says it will only discuss higher pay increases if that condition is included.

“There is an opportunity here. If that fails, an escalation would certainly be realistic,” said Ialpa president Captain Mark Tighe.