AFP: Tens of thousands of passengers were hit by transport chaos on Friday as Ryanair pilots across Europe went on a coordinated 24-hour strike to push their demands for better pay and conditions at the peak of the busy summer season. The Irish no-frills airline was forced to scrap some 400 out of 2,400 European flights scheduled for Friday as pilots in Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands walked off the job. Around 55,000 passengers are affected by the strikes, said Ryanair, which has offered customers refunds or the option of rerouting their journey. Ryanair has slammed the strikes as “unnecessary” but pilots counter that the carrier has refused to engage in meaningful dialogue about collective labour agreements since it began recognising unions in December 2017. Germany is worst hit by the industrial action, with 250 flights scrapped at 10 airports. The country’s powerful Cockpit union said it had called on Ryanair’s roughly 480 Germany-based pilots to walk out from 03:01 am (0101 GMT) until 02:59 am Saturday.