SIX Scottish airports are set to shut at various times over three days as air traffic controllers strike in a dispute over pay.
Prospect union members are resuming industrial action after rejecting a revised pay deal from Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial).
Inverness Airport will be shut to air traffic tomorrow, while on Monday Sumburgh and Kirkwall Airports will close as union members stage 24-hour strikes.
On Tuesday, Stornoway, Bebucula and Dundee Airports will shut.
Hial said the offer rejected by air traffic controllers comprised a retention allowance which would have seen them benefit from an additional £10,000 over a five-year period.
Managing director Inglis Lyon said: “We deeply regret the inconvenience and upset to hundreds of passengers affected by the strike action.
“We wish to find a resolution to this dispute as soon as possible and would urge Prospect to sit down with us once again to find some common ground on which we can arrive at a negotiated settlement.
“Our position has been consistent throughout. We can only deliver an affordable settlement within the terms of public sector pay policy.
“So far, Prospect has continued to ask for a pay increase far in excess of what we are able to afford and that unfortunately remains the situation.
“We remain committed to resolving the dispute. Our latest offer of a retention allowance of £10,000 over a five-year period remains on the table and will continue to explore potential solutions within our affordability.”
He added that the continued industrial action was having a “significant impact” on passengers, communities and the airlines operating from the airports.
He urged Prospect to revisit the pay offer and bring the dispute to an end.
Air traffic controllers previously went on strike on May 23.
Prospect national secretary Richard Hardy said Hial and Scottish ministers had left the group with “no option but to strike”.
He continued: “Strike action is by its nature disruptive but if we are to safeguard the long-term future of air services in the Highlands and Islands we have to start paying air traffic controllers a fair wage.
“This is the only route our members see available to them to achieve this.”
Hial is a public corporation wholly owned by the Scottish ministers.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We continue to encourage both Prospect and Hial to work towards a resolution to the pay dispute, which is clearly not in the interest of passengers or the communities served by Hial airports.”
He added that in the face of UK cuts, the Scottish Government has delivered “a distinctive and progressive pay policy for 2018/19”.
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