Denmark's trade unions unions will be unable to take industrial action against Ryanair as it plans plans to move its one Copenhagen-based aircraft to Lithuania.
The country’s labour court this week ruled that the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) could refuse to service Ryanair flights out of Copenhagen airport.
Ryanair said the “bizarre” ruling allowed competitor airline unions to blockade Ryanair’s one Copenhagen-based aircraft despite the fact these unions represent no Ryanair pilots or crew.
As a result, it confirmed that it is to move the aircraft to Kaunas in Lithuania from July 14th.
The move means that Danish unions cannot take any action against the airline, as the ruling only applies to its Copenhagen base and to flights from there, rather than services operated from outside the Scandinavian country.
Ryanair also announced three new routes to Copenhagen with a daily Kaunas service, which will replace its Copenhagen-Warsaw route, and new route from Copenhagen to Bologna and Edinburgh, which will start from November.
“Ryanair will now operate its 14 Copenhagen routes on aircraft based outside of Copenhagen, with the result that other EU countries and airports will benefit from these highly paid Ryanair jobs which will be lost at Copenhagen airport,” the airline said.
“However, since Ryanair’s non-based aircraft cannot be blockaded or interfered with by SAS unions, Ryanair will continue to grow its 14 low fare routes at Copenhagen.”
