Popular UK airline cancels hundreds of flights at start of school holidays

HUNDREDS of flights have been cancelled during the start of the school summer holidays.

EasyJet has been forced to cancel 350 flights to and from Portugal due to five days of strike action.

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The airline confirmed that flights to Lisbon, Porto and Faro have been affected.

The cancellations are due to easyJet cabin crew in Portugal going on strike from July 21 to July 25.

The strike is going ahead after they failed to reach an agreement in regard to higher wages and better working conditions.

The flight cancellations work out to around 69 per cent of flights across the five days.

SNPVAC, the union of civil aviation flight personnel said: “We will not accept the company continues to perpetuate its regime of maximum profitability and minimum wages.”

They added that the strike “could have been avoided if the company wanted to”.

EasyJet said in a statement that it would do all it could to mitigate the impact of the strike and that “all customers affected by cancellations are eligible for a refund or a free transfer to a new flight”.

It said it was “extremely disappointed” the SNPVAC was planning further strike action despite the company’s “willingness to pursue a constructive dialogue”.

It comes just days after easyJet confirmed that 1,700 flights were being cancelled across summer, affecting 180,000 passengers.

An easyJet spokesperson told The Sun that they are currently operating around 1,800 flights a day, but that the cancellations were due to a number of “challenging conditions”.

This includes limited airspace following the war in Ukraine as well as ATC strikes.

The airline said that around 95 per cent of passengers have been put onto alternative flights.

Other airlines are also warning of more flight cancellations this summer.

United Airlines has said that they will have to reduce their schedule due to a combination of issues that saw hundreds of thousands of passengers affected last month.

Here’s everything you need to know about getting compensation if your flight is delayed or cancelled.

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