Last weekend, Belgian trade unions CNE and ACV Puls announced a strike notice to Ryanair. The unions are unhappy with obligatory flights to war areas.
Starting Monday April 14th, any Ryanair crew member refusing to work flights to, or over, conflict zones, are protected by the right to strike. The unions demand that staff should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they work on flights to Tel Aviv (Israel) and Amman (Jordan).
Among members of staff at Ryanair major base Charleroi, there are safety concerns. The airport is the only major Ryanair base in the Benelux. Previous negotiations with the budget airline have not yet yielded results. These negotiations were regarding the introduction of a system to volunteer for duties on flights to, or over, conflict zones. Other major airlines do have such a system in place.
According to the unions, their actions is not about a boycott for Israel but rather a matter of safety. So far, however, the trade union’s action is not causing major disruption for passengers. Monday’s flights from Charleroi to Tel Aviv and Amman (which also involves flying through Israeli airspace) were able to depart as scheduled.
Return
After October 7, 2023, many airlines announced they would halt their scheduled flights to Israel and subsequently also to Lebanon. As the war is getting more predictable in terms of air strikes, airlines return en masse to the Middle Eastern country. Among the airlines having returned to Tel Aviv are, besides Ryanair, Lufthansa, British Airways and Etihad Airways.