Ryanair has agreed that the Balpa union will now represent all its British pilots in talks, sealing a historic turnaround...

The British Airline Pilots’ Association said it had signed a voluntary trade union recognition agreement that meant its reps will negotiate pay, hours, rostering and holidays for all 600 UK pilots directly employed by Ryanair – a quarter of the total across Europe...

Ryanair had said it was willing to enter into discussions about recognising pilots’ unions in a number of European countries, including the UK...

Balpa has started elections for a council of five Ryanair pilots to represent them in negotiations in airlines. The union said it will also set up an advisory council for hundreds of pilots, mainly co-pilots, hired via third parties or as self-employed contractors for Ryanair.

The Ryanair chief people officer, Eddie Wilson, said: “This agreement validates the decision of Ryanair’s board in December to recognise unions, and the fact that we have delivered pay rises of up to 20% and union recognition for our pilots in our largest market shows how serious Ryanair is about working constructively with unions that are willing to work constructively with us.