Aer Lingus says it hopes to be able to transport virtually all passengers booked to fly on five of its routes during next week's strike. The airline says that it can accommodate most bookings on these routes using hired-in aircraft.
The routes are Dublin-Heathrow; Heathrow-Dublin; Dublin-Manchester, Dublin-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Dublin.
Aer Lingus now believes it can transport about 10,000 of the 50,000 passengers who were due to travel with the airline on the days of the strike.
Advertisements detailing the services, which will operate on these and other routes during the strike on Tuesday and Wednesday appear in today's newspapers.
Aer Lingus says that passengers flying on the five routes above should come to their airport, even if their scheduled service is not listed in the advertisement. Airline staff will then seek to accommodate them on one of the other flights.
The airline has also secured the use of more hired aircraft, enabling it to offer more services between Dublin and Heathrow, and some services between Dublin and Milan and Dublin and Düsseldorf. More than 60 flights are being offered during the two-day period.
The passengers who can not be accommodated have the option of applying for a refund or changing their booking at no extra cost. The airline says it will not pay the expenses of passengers left stranded by the strike, although consumer experts say it is liable to compensate customers under "duty of care" obligations.
A spokeswoman said a significant number of passengers had not changed their bookings and were adopting a "wait and see" attitude in relation to the strike and the availability of replacement flights.
Passengers with queries are advised to contact the Aer Lingus helpline on 0818 365044 or the airline's website, www.aerlingus.com.
