Airport workers in France, as well as Ryanair and easyJet staff in Spain, will heap more misery on hard-hit UK holidaymakers in the coming days. The message from the airlines is: check your flights.
The industrial action will add to the problems travellers are currently facing at UK airports, with delays at security and last-minute flight cancellations commonplace. The industrial action is the latest trouble to hit global airports this summer, as travel resurges after two years of Covid restrictions.
French airports have been largely spared the chaos seen recently in London, Amsterdam and some other European and US cities. But on Friday, striking workers want to call attention to the pain of inflation, with unions saying the strike could last until Sunday.
Read more: Government releases new must-read travel advice to avoid airport disasters this summer
France’s civil aviation authority said 17% of scheduled flights out of Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports in Paris are cancelled between 7am and 2pm on Friday, primarily short-haul routes. Protests are planned at both airports, and the Paris airports authority has warned of potential delays in getting into terminals and at check-in, passport control and security stations.
Meanwhile, Ryanair staff in Spain have walked out in a row over pay and working conditions in Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Sevilla, Palma, Valencia, Girona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza. A similar walkout last weekend. affected less than 2% of flights, according to Ryanair.
In addition, easyJet on-board crew in Spain are set to stage nine days of action in July, starting between July 1 and 3. The strikes will see three 72-hour stoppages at fortnightly intervals
Crew will stop work at easyJet’s bases in Barcelona, Málaga and Palma. However, at this stage the airline hopes to operate a full schedule.
Today’s strike action is another complication in what is turning out to be a summer of disruption at airports. On Thursday, passengers hit out at the “total chaos” at Heathrow on Thursday morning after the airport ordered flights to be cancelled because it could not handle them.
Read next:
- How the EU is charging British tourists a fee and how it will work
- Spanish resort bans football shirts from bars in crackdown on 'drunken tourism'
Rail strikes: How to claim compensation if your journey is affected
Spain updates booster vaccine rules for British holidaymakers visiting this summer
Couple thrown from seats on TUI flight after hearing 'loud bangs' from engine
