Ryanair pulls aircraft from Copenhagen over labour court ruling

Ryanair is to remove its only Copenhagen-based aircraft in response to a ruling by the labour court in Denmark.

The airline said it would transfer its only Danish aircraft to Kaunas, Lithuania, after the Danish Labour Court ruled that unions had a right to a collective agreement - including Ryanair staff, who are not members of the unions involved.

Staff in other unions - which might include essential airport services - planned to refuse to service Ryanair craft unless the company signed up to the collective agreement.

It is understood the core disagreement is Ryanair's policy of recruiting staff under Ireland's labour laws, rather than the more generous Danish rules.

Labelling the ruling "bizarre", Ryanair said the ruling "allows competitor airline unions to blockade Ryanair's one Copenhagen-based aircraft, despite the fact these unions represent no Ryanair pilots or crew".

In response, the airline has closed its Copenhagen to Warsaw route entirely, and will run three new routes to Copenhagen from other airports instead - namely Kaunas, Bologna, and Edinburgh.

"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 company said.

"We have instructed our lawyers to challenge this bizarre ruling with the European Commission and the European Courts since it allows SAS workers and their unions to interfere with competition," Michael O'Leary said.

It comes just a day after the airline said it is planning to sue car rental firm Hertz for breach of contract and damages, claiming it ended their exclusive vehicle hire agreement at short notice.

The company has also this week

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