AER LINGUS HAS said that it has begun to lose money from the ongoing dispute with members of cabin crew over new rosters.

So far, 280 cabin crew have been taken off the payroll as a result of refusing to work to the airline’s new rosters.

Speaking earlier today, Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington said: “It has had a negative impact on bookings . . . People hate uncertainty. Last year we had the ash, then the snow in the winter and now this,” Reuters reports.

However, he said that the estimate that the airline had been losing €40,000 each day was “significantly over-inflated”.

Barrington told RTÉ that the total cost of the dispute could not possibly be calculated until the matter was resolved.

Meanwhile, the Labour Relations Commission has postponed until tomorrow the decision on whether to reconvene talks between Aer Lingus management and the Impact trade union; the two sides met last night but discussions were adjourned without agreement.