FILE PHOTO: A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 plane takes off from Riga International Airport, Latvia on March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair can still avoid a planned strike by British pilots this week if it agrees to a new framework for talks, the chief of UK pilot union BALPA said on Wednesday.

“We’ve sent a proposal to the company with a suggested framework to take talks forward. If they agree to it, we’ve offered to call the strike off,” BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton told Reuters, after a UK court rejected Ryanair’s bid to block planned strike action.

“Even at this late stage, we’re doing our best to avoid disruption. The ball is in their court”

Ryanair BALPA members, whom the airline said represent half of their British-based pilots, voted to stage a two-day strike from Aug. 22, and a second from the early hours of Sept. 2 until just before midnight on Sept. 4.