Aer Rianta strike called off at last minute

THOUSANDS of air passengers whose flights faced disruption were last night granted a last minute reprieve, after Aer Rianta unions agreed to defer their strike action planned for today.

The industrial action, planned for a two hour period between 11am and 1pm, would have severely disrupted flights to and from Dublin, Cork, and Shannon, and affected at least 6,000 travellers.

However, following a day-long series of meetings, today’s stoppage was postponed after the Department of Transport agreed to a series of discussions to begin on Friday, including talks on Shannon’s dual gateway status.