Scots passengers warned over ‘nightmare’ easyJet strikes during Easter holidays

SCOTS holidaygoers have been warned that the upcoming 'nightmare' easyJet strikes could cause travel chaos during the Easter break.

Schools will close for two weeks from Monday, April 7 until Monday, April 21 for the spring holidays.

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So many families will be getting ready to jet off on a sunshine getaway for a great, hard-earned rest.

But the upcoming easyJet strikes could make their journies difficult as they are expected to have a "ripple effect" across the UK and Europe.

Flight attendants at the budget airline are set to walk out on Wednesday, April 9 - right in the middle of the Easter holidays.

Cabin crew who are a part of the Italian Federation of Transport Workers (FILT), the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and the Italian Union of Transport (UIL) are expected to strike for four hours.

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The walkout will start at 10.30am and will last until 2.30pm Central European Time - this works out between 9.30am and 1.30pm in the UK.

And experts have been warned that this could be a "nightmare" for passengers flying to Italy from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports.

Flight attendant strikes can be extremely damaging for an airline’s day-to-day operations

Anton RadchenkoCEO of AirAdvisor

This is because it could disrupt air journeys to and from Italian cities as well as other journeys across the UK and Europe.

Passengers can travel to a number of Italian cities from Glasgow Airport including Pisa, Milan, Naples, and Rome.

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Or those flying from Edinburgh Airport can visit Milan, Catania, Venice and Naples with easyJet.

Anton Radchenko, an international lawyer and CEO of compensation experts AirAdvisor, warned that the strikes could lead to cancellations and delays.

Speaking to Edinburgh Evening News, he said: “Flight attendant strikes can be extremely damaging for an airline’s day-to-day operations.

“This is because flight attendants are a vital component in the service that commercial airlines provide, helping passengers to have a pleasant flight, but also ensuring safety equipment is working properly and demonstrating emergency procedures.

“Strikes can lead to services being short-staffed or unable to take off, ultimately causing flights to be cancelled.

"This can create a ripple effect hitting other services that were relying on an aircraft and its crew being available for new flights to the intended destination.

"Equally, when flights are delayed, they can miss their departure slot, which might cause other services from the same airport to depart later than planned.

"So flights from the UK to Italy and vice versa can very easily be impacted."

Mr Radchenko has also explained that passengers could be entitled to compensation if their flight is cancelled due to the strikes.

This is because the courts could potentially view the strikes as avoidable, which could be even more costly for the airline.

He adds: "The air passenger rights regulation entitles you to compensation of between £220 and £520 if your flight is delayed by more than three hours or cancelled, as a result of industrial action by airline staff.

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“If your easyJet flight on April 9 is cancelled or delayed, we strongly suggest collecting any written evidence like SMS or emails stating strikes as the reason.

"You can use AirAdvisor’s free compensation calculator to figure out what you might be owed, before filing a claim.”