Ryanair Holdings PLC on Monday said only a small number of its Spanish crew are taking strike action.

The low-cost airline cancelled six flights in Spain on Monday as some cabin crew members began a new four-day strike over pay and working conditions, union officials said.

The USO and SITCPLA unions called a third wave of 24-hour work stoppages from August 8 until January 7, 2023, arguing that Ryanair had refused ‘to engage in any dialogue’.

However, Ryanair on Monday said the unions only represent a small number of its Spanish crew.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: ‘These two tiny unions who represent only a handful of our Spanish cabin crew have held a number of poorly supported ’strikes’ in June and July, which have had little or no impact on Ryanair’s flights to or from Spain. In July alone, Ryanair carried a record 16.8 million passengers – many of them to/from Spain. Ryanair expects that these latest threatened strikes, which involve only a handful of our Spanish cabin crew, will have zero impact on our Spanish flights or schedules in August or September.’

Ryanair noted that while a small number of its flights were cancelled in July, this was down to flight delays and air traffic control strikes.

‘No flights were cancelled in July due to these unsuccessful and poorly supported strikes by these two minority unions (USO & SITCPLA) who represent only a small handful of Ryanair Spanish cabin crew. The vast majority of Ryanair’s Spanish cabin crew are represented by the CCOO union who have already reached a labour agreement with Ryanair which covers most of our Spanish cabin crew,’ the spokesperson added.

easyJet PLC pilots in Spain have since August 12 staged weekly three-day strikes to call for the reinstatement of conditions they enjoyed before the pandemic.

Their next work stoppage will start on Saturday.

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