Greek air traffic controllers announced on Saturday an eleventh hour suspension of a series of one-day strikes as hundreds of flights were cancelled and concerns raised to avert a tourism crisis.
Representatives of the Greek Air Traffic Controllers Association had met for last-ditch talks Saturday afternoon with Transport Minister Christos Spirtzis.
"After a constructive and honest dialogue with the minister during which he made some clarifications as well as some commitments, the association decided to suspend the announced 24-hour strikes." the union said in a statement.
The controllers union had earlier announced 24-hour rolling strikes starting Sunday and continuing for three days next week.
The controllers had called the walkout to protest the restructuring of the Civil Aviation Authority, accusing the Greek government of proceeding with reforms that would deprive them of their administrative role without prior consultation with the union.
Airlines including Aegean, the country's largest carrier, and its subsidiary Olympic Air had begun cancelling flights due to the strike threat.
Irish budget airline Ryanair had earlier grounded 110 flights scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, calling on the European Commission to take action "to prevent these repeated ATC strikes from continuously disrupting the travel plans of millions of Europe's citizens and their families".
Greece's Tourism Ministry and the Greek Tourism Confederation had also called for an immediate suspension of the four days of strike that would create an "unprecedented upheaval" and serious problems for the tourism sector.
(culled from news.yahoo.com)
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