Strikes Ground Over Half of Dublin Flights

Feb. 7 -- Separate strikes by staff at Ireland's Aer Lingus and UK carrier British Midland halted over half the flights out of Dublin airport today, airport operator Aer Rianta said.

Irish state airline Aer Lingus grounded all but a handful of flights after cabin crew workers announced they would begin a series of one-day strikes in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Britain's second-biggest carrier, British Midland, said it would operate a limited service for the second day running as ground staff stepped up industrial action over the company's decision to transfer ground operations to an outside operator.

"We will have in the region of 20,000–25,000 passengers passing through the airport [Dublin] today when we would normally have up to 46,000," an Aer Rianta spokeswoman said.

Aer Lingus normally accounts for just under 50 percent of the traffic at Dublin airport while British Midland is the airport's third largest operator after low-cost airline Ryanair, she added.

Flights to and from Cork and Shannon airports were also grounded because of the Aer Lingus strike.

Both companies said full service would resume on Thursday.

"Flights should operate as normal with the exception of a handful of long-haul flights which had to be canceled as a knock-on of today's action," Dan Loughrey, Group Corporate Affairs Director at Aer Lingus, said.

A British Midland spokesman said it would also resume all services.