Thousands of Irish holidaymakers have had their travel plans to and from Spanish resorts disrupted by a planned all-out strike in Spain today.
Many passengers who were due to fly to Spanish resorts with Budget Travel and Falcon/JWT Holidays today were required to travel a day early yesterday while others have had their flights postponed until tomorrow. The 24-hour Spanish strike, over new labour laws, will result in public transport coming to a standstill. Banks, shops, petrol stations, bars and restaurants will also be closed.
Budget Travel's human resources manager, Ms Jacinta McGlynn confirmed that about 800 of its customers were affected. She said passengers due to travel to Lanzarote and Majorca with Budget today had their flights moved back to yesterday to avoid the chaos. Some customers already holidaying in Spain, who were due to travel home today, also had to travel home a day early, while others will be delayed and unable to travel home until tomorrow.
A spokeswoman for Falcon/ JWT Holidays said it also had to reschedule a number of flights. Three departures to Costa Almeria from Dublin, Cork and Shannon have been rescheduled for tomorrow. A number of the tour operator's scheduled flights from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to Lanzarote will however depart today as planned, but passengers on these flights may experience delays. In addition, some of Falcon's customers who were holidaying in Spain had to travel home a day early yesterday.
"We have advised our customers to make contact with their travel agents and to be prepared for possible delays," a spokeswoman said. "Those travelling out of Ireland should bring extra provisions and supplies with them such as essential medication, nappies and baby foods, as well as extra euro in case they are held up at the airport," she added. The president of the Irish Travel Agents Association, Mr Tony Brazil, said agents were working hard to ensure passengers weren't left stranded.
Aer Lingus, which has scheduled flights to Malaga, Barcelona, Madrid and Alicante today, said it did not expect them to be affected as Spanish air traffic controllers would not be on strike. Passengers should check in as normal, a spokeswoman said.
Ryanair does not fly to Spain but the company was badly affected by yesterday's strike by French air traffic controllers. It was forced to cancel several flights, including two return flights on the Dublin-Paris route and one return flight on the Shannon-Paris route. It also had to cancel 22 other flights into France from other European destinations including Brussels, Glasgow, Frankfurt, and London Stansted.
Passengers whose flights were cancelled were asked to contact the company's reservation office to re-book an alternative flight or apply for a refund. At Aer Lingus, only one of its scheduled flights on the Dublin-Paris route operated yesterday.
The airline had to cancel eight flights - two Dublin-Paris return flights, one Dublin-Nice return flight and one Cork-Paris return flight.
Air France also cancelled five flights from Dublin to Paris. At Dublin Airport, a small number of arrivals and departures were delayed as a result of the air traffic controllers dispute, which resulted in longer journeys for airlines which had to fly around rather than through French airspace.
Shannon air traffic controllers had to handle an extra 80 flights as a result of flights from Northern Europe being re-routed through Irish airspace, a spokeswoman for the Irish Aviation Authority confirmed.