THE THREATENED AER Lingus strike on the June bank holiday weekend is behind a €185 price hike on Dublin-London fairs,  Irish Travel Agents Association has claimed.

In a statement today, the ITAA pointed out that flying from Dublin to London Gatwick during the threatened strike will currently cost €238.99 compared to just €53.99 the following weekend.

“Whilst this rise can be attributed in part, to the bank holiday, it is undoubtedly also due to the proposed strike action and lack of availability on Friday 30 May.”

The airline released a stock exhange statement earlier today in relation to the threatened strike by IMPACT cabin crew, saying that the prospect of the strike is seriously hurting bookings.

“The unwarranted 24 hour industrial action by the IMPACT trade union, deliberately timed to occur just before the seasonally important June bank holiday weekend in Ireland, has considerably damaged Aer Lingus’ forward booking profile.”

ITAA chief executive Pat Dawson called for a climbdown from all sides.

“We ask that IMPACT and Aer Lingus management enter negotiations immediately in an attempt to prevent the proposed strike action. If it goes ahead as planned, this strike action will affect 40,000 customers causing undue worry and stress on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.”

He said that many agents are already reporting a drop in bookings and a steep rise in prices for the June bank holiday weekend due to a lack of alternative options for would-be travelers.

Varadkar ‘disappointed’ by Aer Lingus strike but says there are other airlines>

Aer Lingus cabin cew are going on strike a the start of the June bank holiday weekend>

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