Budget airline easyJet has been accused of escalating a dispute with Dutch airline pilots by hiring foreign crews to get around a planned strike on Tuesday.

The British airline has said it expects all 23 flights taking off from Schiphol to go ahead as planned, despite a walkout by Dutch pilots in a dispute over pay, sick leave and pension contributions.

‘Flights coming in from Italy, for example, have an Italian crew. They will simply fly onward,’ said a spokesman. ‘There are foreign crews located at Schiphol, so we will try to use them.’

Steven Verhaegen, chairman of the Dutch pilots’ union VNV, claimed that easyJet had flown in foreign crews to break previous strikes in France. The union is considering taking legal action against the airline to stop similar measures.

‘They’re taking over work from Dutch pilots who are on strike. That will make the dispute worse,’ said Verhaegen. ‘The disruption caused by our withdrawal of labour is limited because it’s only eight hours. We’ll now be considering longer interruptions.’

The strike is scheduled to run from 6am to 2pm on Tuesday. The VNV said it expected a majority of the 73 Amsterdam-based pilots to take part. EasyJet said it expected all flights to go ahead but advised passengers to follow updates on its website.