A number of domestic flights have been cancelled due to a strike by air traffic controllers covering six Scottish regional airports tomorrow (Thursday).
Inverness airport will be shut due to the industrial action by controllers working for Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial). Action will also affect Benbecula, Dundee, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh airports.
Loganair’s network faces the most disruption will all flights to and from Benbecula, Dundee, Inverness, Kirkwall, Stornoway and Sumburgh cancelled and others re-timed.
Flybe confirmed that services to and from Inverness to Belfast and Birmingham were among cancellations.
EasyJet warned of disruption to its Inverness flights. The budget carrier has laid onadditional flights today from from Inverness to Gatwick and from Gatwick to Inverness on Friday.
Hial managing director Inglis Lyon said the Scottish government-owned airports operator“sincerely regretted” the escalation of a pay dispute by members of the Prospect union.
“We continue to work closely with our airlines to mitigate the effects of strike action and I wish to thank them and all our staff who have worked extremely hard to implement contingency measures,” he said.
“Throughout this process, Hial has been fully committed to resolving this dispute. We are disappointed that our efforts to provide possible solutions have been rejected by Prospect and its claim has not altered and remains a wage increase of at least 10%.
“From the outset the union has repeatedly cited pay differentials between our staff and controllers working in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. Air traffic movements make this comparison misleading and unrealistic.
Furthermore, the evidence from the analysis of air traffic controller pay at non-Hial airports jointly undertaken by Hial and Prospect did not support a double-digit wage award.
“We believe Hial air traffic controllers are well remunerated and have already accepted a pay increase backdated to April 2018.”