Ryanair says it may trim expansion plans due to strikes

Ryanair will consider cutting its growth plans for this winter and next summer if staff strikes continue, a senior executive said on Tuesday after announcing that 30,000 passengers will be grounded by a cabin crew strike on Friday. The Irish airline said in July it planned annual passenger growth of 7% to 139m in the year to March 2019 and another 9% growth to 152m in the year to March 2020. But it has said that a string of strikes by pilots and cabin crew since it recognised trade unions for the first time last December has damaged bookings just as strong increases in oil prices threaten to push up costs. “These repeated unnecessary strikes are damaging Ryanair’s business and our customer confidence at a time when oil prices are rising strongly,” CMO Kenny Jacobs said. “If they continue, it is inevitable that we will have to look again at our capacity growth this winter and in summer 2019.” Jacobs said that 30,000 people would be grounded on Friday by cabin crew strikes in Spain, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, Italy and Germany, which had forced it to cancel 190 of 2,400 flights. All affected customers have been given three day’s notice of the cancellations, it said. Ryanair said it had made significant progress in recent weeks with union negotiations and said it had offered talks to staff from the five countries offering them improved conditions.<br/>