Airports across Spain have voted to go on strike in a further escalation of the travel chaos being experienced by air passengers this summer. Workers are planning 24-hour stoppages on 25 days between September and December in a protest against conditions and low pay.
The three main workers' unions in Spain - USOM, CCOO, and UGT - are in a dispute with airport operator AENA. As a result, people with holidays booked are urged to check their flights before travelling, ChronicleLive reports.
Industrial action is scheduled for five days in September, seven in October, two in November and 11 in December. Car park staff, baggage handlers, security, IT, retail and catering staff have all voted to walk out.
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The planned strike dates in September dates are the 15th, 17th, 22nd, 24th, and 29th. Meanwhile, the December dates include five days from December 26-30, designed to cause maximum disruption over Christmas and New Year.
Passengers travelling are reminded to keep an eye on travel updates as flight cancellations could be a possibility. If your flight is cancelled, follow our advice on what you should do and what your rights are.
Ryanair, one of the UK's most popular airlines for flights to Spain, has said that it expects no disruption as a result of the strikes. A spokesperson told ChronicleLive: "These two tiny unions who represent only a handful of our Spanish cabin crew have held a number of poorly supported 'strikes' in June and July which have had little or no impact on Ryanair’s flights to or from Spain.
"In July alone Ryanair operated over 3,000 daily flights and carried a record 16.8m passengers – many of them to/from Spain. Ryanair expects that these latest threatened strikes, which involve only a handful of our Spanish cabin crew, will have zero impact on our Spanish flights or schedules in August or September."
Elsewhere, travellers have been warned to make sure that everything is in order ahead of their holidays. This includes checking visa requirements, Covid vaccination requirements and ensuring your passport has the right amount of validity.
This week, workers at the UK's largest shipping port also began their strike, with walkouts on railways, the post office and barristers also happening this week. Nearly 2,000 workers at the Port of Felixstowe, which handles about four million containers a year from 2,000 ships accounting for more than half of the country’s incoming shipping freight, walked off the job on Sunday.
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