(Alliance News) - Budget airline Ryanair PLC will shut its base at Faro International Airport in Portugal from 2020, a local cabin crew union told Reuters on Wednesday.
The news wire explained the SNPVAC union was told by the Irish airline the Faro base will close in the summer of 2020 as part of its wider cost-cutting programme.
SNPVAC Director Fernando Gandra said the timing of the announcement "appears at least strange as it comes within days of our calling a strike in Portugal and as the company is telling staff its passenger numbers have risen 9% in July from a year earlier."
The union has called a strike from August 21 to 25. This was after Ryanair refused to comply with a protocol signed in November regarding holiday pay and leave as well as compliance with the Potuguese parental law.
"We are looking into the matter and collecting data to see if it could be retaliation for the strike," Gandra added.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ryanair-portugal/ryanair-to-shut-faro-base-in-portugal-in-2020-union-idUSKCN1UX1GJ
Shares in Ryanair were 2.6% higher at EUR9.27 in London on Wednesday.