Ryanair faces more strike action after pilots in Germany voted in favour of a walkout in a dispute over pay.
The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union claimed 96% of members working for Europe’s largest carrier in Germany voted to take industrial action.
The union gave the Irish carrier until August 6 to make an offer to avoid a strike and said it will give 24 hours’ notice before it calls a walkout.
The union said: “Ryanair has been playing for time in the negotiations since January. If the signal given by this vote is not taken seriously, then strikes – such as in other European countries – are inevitable.”
The Irish carrier cancelled more than 600 flights last week in a separate dispute by pilots and crews in Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
The disputes saw the carrier threaten to move aircraft and jobs out of Ireland after pilots walked out for the third day of strikes.
Irish pilots trade union Forsa called another strike on April 3 and said more would follow.
Chief operations officer, Peter Bellew, said: “The 20 cancelled flights next Friday cannot be recovered even if this unnecessary (4th) strike is called off.
“We hope Forsa will accept our invitation to meet either next Saturday (4th) or any day the following week, as long as no more strikes are called while we meet, and no Aer Lingus pilots are involved in these negotiations.”