Tens of thousands of travellers scheduled to fly with Aer Lingus next week remained in limbo yesterday as the company delayed any further announcement on the cancellation of flights.
The airline ceased operations yesterday as a response to Thursday's one-day strike by pilots.
It said it would review operations on a day-by-day basis, meaning none of its flights could be guaranteed until further notice.
Passengers and travel agents expressed their anger yesterday at what they described as an information deficit from the company.
People complained that when they rang a helpline on the dispute they were greeted with an answering message redirecting them to another helpline, which, they said, was constantly engaged.
Aer Lingus said it would be printing regular bulletins in the national newspapers to keep passengers informed of developments. The airline also said it sincerely apologised for the disruption and inconvenience, which it blamed on the pilots' strike action.
Clarifying the position regard- ing refunds for passengers, a spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said: "We are offering a full refund, rerouting where possible, or travel vouchers. We are not compensating for expenses incurred from disruption, or for any extras or incidentals." Rival airlines reacted to the shut-down yesterday by announcing they were adding extra flights to their schedules this weekend.
Ryanair flew two additional flights on its Dublin-London Stansted route yesterday. Three additional flights have been scheduled for today on the route, leaving Stansted at 15.30, Dublin 17.05 and Stansted 20.15.
Four extra flights have been added to tomorrow's Ryanair schedule: Stansted 14.00, Dublin 15.35, Stansted 17.10 and Dublin 18.45.
The additional flights will facilitate more than 1,700 travellers over the June bank holiday weekend, which Ryanair said was its busiest ever. The airline's bank holiday business is 35 per cent up on last year.
A Ryanair spokeswoman noted that passengers booking less than 24 hours in advance of flights were advised to call reservations at 0818 30 30 30 within Ireland, or 00 44 0870 1569 569 in Britain, rather than booking on ryanair.com. She added: "If there is sufficient demand we may put on more additional flights over the weekend."
CityJet said it was adding extra flights to its schedule next Monday and Tuesday to facilitate passengers stranded at Dublin Airport. The airline, which operates in partnership with Air France, said the extra flights would be on its Dublin-Paris Charles de Gaulle route. It noted the French airport had connecting flights to 286 destinations worldwide.
For further details on times and availability, passengers should contact Air France Reservations at (01) 605 0383.
