The Traveller's Magazine
It’s not the ideal week to take-off on flights to Spain. Employees at Spanish airline Iberia walked out today on a five day strike, lasting until Friday evening. 1,200 flights and 70,000 passengers are expected to be affected.
It’s not news that things are a little hard going over at Iberia. The board of directors at IAG, the International Airline Group, announced it would be cutting 3,807 jobs in the near future in hopes of bringing the airline back to a profit-making position, a decision which sparked complaints from both crew on the ground and in the air.
415 Iberia flights will be cancelled this week but the worker’s strike will not only affect Iberia’s flights but many others departing Spanish airports. An estimated 1,200 flights cannot take-off as long as Iberia’s ground crew strikes. Iberia estimates some 70,000 flights will be affected throughout the week. Alternative transportation has already been sorted for 60,000 passengers, about 85%. The rest will be offered refunds.
This week won’t be the last of the strikes. A total of fifteen days are planned for the following dates February 18th-22nd, March 4th-8th and March 18th-22nd.
Iberia and the UK
90% of long-haul flights will be cancelled but it’s Spain’s domestic and short-haul flight services that will experience the worst of it.
Today, four flights from London to Madrid are cancelled.
Click here to see all of Iberia’s cancelled flights.
If you’re planning a trip to Spain this week or during any of the dates listed above onboard Iberia or any other airline, best to check with your airline before travelling to the airport to see that everything is taking off fine and on-time.
