Ryanair strikes deal with main German pilot union on pay, allowances

(Reuters) - Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair reached on Friday a four-year agreement with its main German pilot union VC on pay and allowances, the latest breakthrough in its efforts to end a year of industrial disputes.

Ryanair, which has faced a series of strikes across Europe over the last year, has made significant progress in union talks in recent months and has said it hopes to come to agreements with unions in all its main markets before the end of March.

But some large unions say problems remain, with Britain's BALPA last month saying there was "real frustration building up" around the talks.

Ryanair said it had reached an agreement with the VC union, which was responsible for Ryanair's first ever pilot strike in Dec. 2017, on pay and allowances for a four-year period.

It said it hoped to complete a Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) by the end of March, while VC said it was targeting a resolution by the middle of that month.

"A salary scale was agreed upon which will be an integral part of the CLA remuneration for Ryanair pilots in Germany," VC spokesperson Janis Schmitt said in a statement.

Schmitt added that they had made progress in their negotiations for a social plan.

(Reporting by Justin George Varghese, Conor Humphries and Douglas Busvine; Editing by Jan Harvey)