RYANAIR HAS ANNOUNCED it could cut its Dublin-based fleet by up to 20% this winter.

Protective notice has been issued to over 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew at the low-cost airline, a decision the company says is partly down to ongoing strike action by pilots.

It added that the rapid growth of its Polish charter airline, Ryanair Sun, was also a factor.

Protective notice is a term that is regularly used in redundancy situations, although it has no legal basis.

It refers to a communication issued by a company to its employees, which says that it expects staff to be made redundant at a future point unless circumstances change.

Announcing the decision this morning, the airline revealed that it has issued 90 days protective notice to employees whose services may not be required from 28 October.

Ryanair’s chief operating officer, Peter Bellew said the company regretted the move, but said the airline is operating in a market where future bookings have weakened because of “rolling strikes by Irish pilots”.

The announcement comes as trade union Fórsa, which represents hundreds of Ryanair pilots, meets again today to discuss the possibility of future strike action.

Yesterday, a 24-hour strike led to the cancellation of 16 flights, affecting 2,500 Irish customers.

In a statement to TheJournal.ie Fórsa said it would issue a statement once it had “read and considered Ryanair’s statement” regarding its Dublin-based fleet.

A further 600 flights across Europe, which were scheduled to fly today and tomorrow, were cancelled last week because of cabin crew strikes in Spain, Portugal and Belgium.

Five unions called for the stoppage over issues relating to pay, and around 100,000 passengers are believed to have been affected.