Spain. A new day of air traffic controllers’ strikes has been called – New strike day for Air Nostrum pilots – New round of Swissport strikes until 13 April.
For the month of April, a new strike schedule has been called for 9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27 and 30 April. Timetables affected: Peninsula/Balearic Islands from 15:00 to 17:00. Canary Islands: 07:00 to 09:00 hours.
The towers affected are Alicante-Elche, Castellón, Cuatro Vientos, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Jerez, Lanzarote, La Palma, Lleida, Murcia, Sabadell, Seville and Valencia, as well as A Coruña and Vigo.
Air Nostrum faces this Monday a new day of strike called by the Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (Sepla) and that will take place every Monday and Friday. Sources from the airline indicated that there have been no unforeseen incidents, as passengers on the flights affected by the strikes are being relocated. Air Nostrum, a franchisee of Spanish flag carrier Iberia, operates a network of regional domestic and international flights under Iberia codes.
Significant flight disruptions (delays and cancelations) are expected throughout these periods.
Travelers are advised to confirm the status of their flights and contact the airline for more information. It is now in its ninth day since it began on 27 February.
Until 13 April, Swissport has again called a series of 24-hour stoppages every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Swissport Handling provides services at Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Reus, Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Málaga, Almería, Salamanca, Valladolid, Burgos, Logroño, Zaragoza, Huesca, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur airports.
At all these facilities it provides passenger and ramp handling services, except at the airports of Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur, where it assists executive aviation companies; and in Madrid and Malaga, where it operates air cargo handling services, its customers include the airlines Aegean Airlines, Aer Lingus, Air France, Brussels Airlines, Czech Airlines, Emirates, Finnair, Iberia Express, Icelandair, Iran Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss, Turkish Airlines and Vueling. As a result, it is expected that these mobilisations will cause delays and possibly the cancellation of some flights.
Unions will have to provide minimum services, as is required by Spanish law, so it isn’t yet clear what impact the strikes will have on passengers.