Employees of Croatian flag carrier Croatia Airlines said on August 3 they will go on strike on August 8, after in July they postponed the protest after a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenjovic, Total Croatia News reported.

The strike comes during the peak summer season when the country is being visited by a large number of tourists. Apart from creating chaos at airports, the strike is likely to affect tourism, one of the key economic sectors of the country.

“After a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic held on July 6, we reached an agreement which included the prime minister’s promise that the necessary conditions would soon be fulfilled, which included an appointment of a new and competent management board. That would enable us to finally, after almost 20 months, sign the collective agreement which is the foundation of all civilised Western air carriers, and Croatia Airlines is one of them,” the ORCA trade union said.

The unionists claimed that the prime minister had not fulfilled his part of the agreement, and therefore the strike will be launched on August 8, at 6 am.

Following the announcement, Croatia Airlines said in a statement that the company will suffer losses of €800,000 a day during the strike. The strike would affect 7,000 passengers on the first day alone.

The Croatian flag carrier added that “more than 150 union demands mean an increase in the costs of wages and contributions of 30% or HRK53mn a year, which is equivalent to an extra two and a half monthly wages annually.”

The company said that it does not have the financial capabilities to allocate nearly HRK53mn annually, adding that the ORCA trade union has twice rejected offers of 2.5% wage increases and other benefits.

Croatia Airlines, which is searching for a strategic investor, transported more than 719,200 passengers in January-May, 6% up on the year.