THREE Scottish airports will be closed again as part of a strike by air traffic controllers.
Stornoway, Benbecula and Dundee Airports were due to be shut again today, the third of three 24-hour stoppages. It comes as members of the Prospect union employed by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) resumed industrial action after rejecting a revised pay deal.
Sumburgh Airport in Shetland and Kirkwall Airport in Orkney were shut yesterday, and Inverness Airport was closed on Sunday.
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 previously that he “deeply regrets the inconvenience and upset to hundreds of passengers affected by the strike action”.
He called on Prospect to resume talks to find a resolution to the dispute as soon as possible and claimed the union is asking for a pay increase “far in excess of what we are able to afford”.
Air traffic controllers previously went on strike on May 23, when six airports were shut for 24 hours due to the industrial action.
Prospect national secretary Richard Hardy said the strikes were a “last resort”.
“HIAL and Scottish ministers have left our members with no option but to strike,” he said previously.
“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.”
HIAL is a public corporation wholly owned by the Scottish ministers.
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said it encourages both parties to resolve the dispute as it is “clearly not in the interest of passengers or the communities served by HIAL airports”.
The strikes come as part of three 24-hour stoppages, the first of which involved Inverness Airport on Sunday before Sumburgh and Kirkwall airports followed suit yesterday.
The latest industrial action follows similar action in May when all a
24-hour strike caused all six airports
to close.
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