Aer Rianta has confirmed there will be no flights in or out of Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. this afternoon as there will be no emergency fire services.
The airports authority said it had been informed by SIPTU its members in the airport fire services would not be available when the unions meet to discuss Government plans to break-up Aer Rianta.
A spokeswoman for Aer Rianta said the disruption would affect 26 flights and around 3,000 passengers.
She said passengers were still being advised to check in as normal but to expect delays.
Ryanair accused SIPTU and other unions of blackmailing the Aer Rianta management and of putting the safety of Irish holidaymakers at risk.
More than 50,000 passengers are due to pass through Dublin Airport today, while almost 20,000 more are expected to pass through Shannon and Cork.
Leaders of the four main unions, who believe the plans to break up Aer Rianta will threaten threaten jobs, are this afternoon expected to agree a strategy to resist the move. This is likely to include a threat of industrial action.
The unions will also call for the plans to be postponed until an independent panel of experts is appointed to examine the most effective way of developing the State's main airports.
Large-scale meetings of SIPTU's 2,700 members, who represent 70 per cent of airport workers, are to take place between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
