Ryanair pilots' strike after last-ditch talks fail

"There has been no customer disruption other than the 30 flights which were cancelled on Tuesday (and all these customers switched flights or selected refunds)".

The Irish carrier is facing strike action in numerous countries it operates in.

"All customers who are travelling on flights to/from Ireland on Thursday 12 July who have not received any email or text notifications of flight cancellations should travel to their departure airport as normal", Ryanair said in a statement.

The airline said they have made alternative travel arrangements using both flights and ferries for nearly 5,000 passengers.

A number of Ryanair pilots based in Ireland have announced that they intend on staging two further 24-hours strikes later this month.

Flights from Dublin to Gatwick, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester have all been affected.

"Given that today's strike by 25 per cent of our Irish pilots have achieved nothing, we hope they will now accept our offer to set up a working group to discuss, explain and resolve their issues".

Despite a history of hostility towards unions, the airline eventually agreed to recognise them in December.

Last week, pilots voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action (99%) following a dispute over management's approach to transferring pilots between its European and African bases.

There are separate strikes over a wide range of issues planned by Ryanair cabin crew in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Belgium on 25 and 26 of July.

"Ryanair pilots have already secured a 20% pay increase, earn up to €200,000 p.a., work 5 days-on, followed by 4 days-off (a double bank holiday weekend at the end of every week), enjoy rapid promotions and unmatched job security".

A statement released by all four unions that are representing the cabin crews said: "We call on the European Commission, and the governments of every European country where Ryanair operates, to act upon the social dumping performed by the Irish low-priced carrier and to enforce the EU employment and national imperative legislation".

Last autumn, Ryanair was forced to cancel hundreds of flights after rostering failures left the airline with insufficient crew.