Potential Aer Lingus passengers are still no closer to discovering if their flights will depart tomorrow as pilots’ unions continued to threaten strike action.

With just hours remaining to secure a deal, airline officials were this morning locked in talks at the Labour Relations Commission.

Talks had broken down on Saturday, but resumed yesterday.

Aer Lingus has previously warned the planned industrial action would effectively lead to the grounding of the airline from tomorrow.

However, regional services, as well as its routes from Belfast and its Washington-Madrid flights, would not be affected, the airline confirmed.

Aer Lingus said industrial action in the Republic would cause problems for around 30,000 passengers.

The dispute centres on the implementation of a new roster for pilots at the airline, which has been struggling to cut costs as its financial position continues to deteriorate.