Ryanair removes aircraft from Copenhagen over dispute with unions
Ryanair is to move its one Copenhagen-based aircraft to Kaunas Airport in Lithuania from July 14 in a row with Danish trade unions.
The decision comes after a ruling by a Danish Labour Court allowing unions to take industrial action against the Irish airline at the airport.
Ryanair has upset the country’s Confederation of Trade Unions by refusing to enter into collective agreements with local trade unions.
The court has now ruled that union members can refuse to service Ryanair flights out of Copenhagen airport.
Ryanair argued that the ruling ‘appeared to allow competitor airline unions’, to take action against it because it could involve ground staff working for companies that service rival carriers, namely SAS.
Industrial action can only apply to Ryanair aircraft based at Copenhagen and not to those flying into Denmark from other countries.
Ryanair will now operate its 14 Copenhagen routes on aircraft based outside of Copenhagen with a daily Kaunas service replacing its Copenhagen-Warsaw route, which will close, starting on 15 July.
There will also be a new route from Copenhagen to Bologna three times a week and Cophenhagen to Edinburgh three times a week, starting from November.
"Sadly, Copenhagen will lose out on these high paid Ryanair jobs as we move our pilots and cabin crew to other Ryanair airports elsewhere in Europe," said Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary.
"We have instructed our lawyers to challenge this bizarre ruling with the European Commission and the European Courts since it allows SAS workers and their unions to interfere with competition, and the jobs of Ryanair pilots and cabin crew."
Ryanair had previously planned to add four other craft to the one already based at Copenhagen.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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