Chaos after air traffic shut down in Spain

Due to the labour conflict of the air traffic controllers in Spain, the air space over Madrid, the Canary Islands and Majorca is closed.

Due to the labour conflict of the air traffic controllers in Spain, the air space over Madrid, the Canary Islands and Majorca is closed. Eurocontrol has informed that the air space will be closed until 01:00 a.m, Spanish Mainland time, customers are kindly requested not to go to the airport affected.

Air space over Madrid, the Canary Islands and Majorca is closed due to the labour conflict of the Spanish air traffic controllers. According to the information provided by Eurocotrol, it is expected that the air operations in these airports will be cancelled until 01:00 a.m. Spanish Mainland time, therefore customers are kindly requested not to go to the airports in these regions.

Iberia will update the information on its web site (www.iberia.com) and the social media. It will also launch a flight recovery plan once the air space has been opened. Long haul flights departing in the early morning will have priority.

Customers with a flight ticket to the affected destinations are kindly requested not to go to the airport and to contact their travel agencies or Iberiaโ€™s Call Centers. Passengers can also check their flight status on www.iberia.com

Hundreds of flights were delayed and thousands were stranded in Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza. The country’s airport operator, AENA, told the BBC that it was forced to close airspace after workers refused to work or did not show up for work at all.

“The air traffic controllers are massively abandoning their posts,” an AENA spokeswoman told CNN. Apparently an air traffic controller shift change was due to happen late Friday and AENA is hopeful the next batch of controllers will show up to work.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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