Updated: 2.20pm. Additional reporting by PA.
Aer Lingus has cancelled 50 additional flights ahead of looming industrial action by pilots.
A total of 240 flights had previously been cancelled by the airline, while more had been retimed to avoid an eight-hour strike which is scheduled to take place on Saturday.
The strike is in addition to a work-to-rule action due to commence on Wednesday, during which pilots will not engage in overtime.
The industrial action is being taken by members of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association (Ialpa), which is seeking a pay increase for Aer Lingus pilots.
On Tuesday afternoon, Aer Lingus released a statement confirming the further cancellations, affecting flights on Monday, July 1st and Tuesday, July 2nd.
“Implementing these cancellations is to enable us to protect as many services as possible for as many of our customers as possible.
“These cancellations will be implemented today (Tuesday) and details will be communicated to impacted customers.”
The announcement comes as Taoiseach Simon Harris called on Aer Lingus and Ialpa to “dig deep” in attempting to come to a resolution in their heated industrial dispute.
There has been a sharp exchange of words between the airline and union, with both sides accusing the other of not engaging.
Both sides have agreed to attend separate meetings at the Labour Court on Tuesday to provide briefings on the industrial stand-off.
Mr Harris said it was “absolutely vital” that both sides engage in talks to find a resolution.
“My challenge to the parties now is to bring that engagement forward, rather than putting people through a prolonged period of agony and chaos, and then engaging in the end anyway,” he said on Tuesday morning.
“This dispute will be settled the same way every dispute is settled: compromise, engagement, sitting around a table. That’s what needs to happen.
Mr Harris added: “I welcome the fact that today, both parties have agreed to attend the Labour Court, albeit separately, but I would ask people to dig deep here.”
He said there would be “very little sympathy” for anybody involved in cancelling family holidays and disrupting the tourism sector if they are not engaging “intensively”.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said: “We do hope that the talks between Aer Lingus and Ialpa are substantive, and that they lead to a pathway to a resolution of the dispute and relieve the anxiety and stress that thousands and thousands of people are feeling at the moment in respect of proposed industrial action.
“I think there’s an urgent necessity now to resolve this, and to bring some peace of mind to people who’ve been planning all year to go on their holidays.”
Aer Lingus has already cancelled more than 200 flights and sought to re-accommodate 35,000 passengers amid the bitter dispute over pay.
The work-to-rule action will run from Wednesday to Sunday, with an eight-hour strike planned for Saturday.
Pilots are seeking a pay increase of 24 per cent, which they say equates to inflation since the last pay rise in 2019.
Aer Lingus has said it is willing to offer pay increases of 12.5 per cent or above if “improvements in productivity and flexibility” are discussed.
Details of the flights impacted by the industrial action can be found on the Aer Lingus website.
Affected customers are being given the option to change their flights free of charge, or can cancel their booking to receive a refund or voucher.
