Passengers braced for chaos as Spanish ground handlers set to walk out over Easter

Brits hoping for a getaway to Spain over Easter may find themselves caught up in travel chaos as thousands of airport workers are set to go on strike.

Ground handlers at two major firms are walking out next week at more than a dozen airports, including in the Canary Islands, in a dispute over pay.

More than 3,000 workers at Groundforce are set to stage an indefinite walkout at major hubs including Madrid, Alicante and Malaga, El Pais reported.

A separate strike called by handlers at Menzies is expected to causefurther disruption at seven airports across Easter, including Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca.

Spanish airports are expecting to handle some 70,000 flights over the Easter week.

Menzies counts airlines including EasyJet and British Airways among its customers, while Groundforce provides services primarily for Spanish carrier Air Europa.

While planned action over this weekend was called off, a breakdown in talks between the handling companies and transport union UGT means strikes planned from next week are still going ahead as of this afternoon.

On strike days, Groundforce employees will walk out at staggered times from 5 to 7am, 11am to 5pm and then 10pm until midnight.

Menzies handlers are set to stage 24 hour strikes every day between April 2 and April 6 inclusive.

For the Groundforce dispute, UGT has threatened to continue strikes every weekend until the end of the year, potentially disrupting travel across the summer holidays as well.

Ground handlers include staff who help turn around aircraft, from ramp services to baggage handling and boarding and checking in passengers.

A significant number of flights are still set to operate, but passengers on are likely to face delays particularly at peak times.

While minimum service levels have been set for both domestic and international journeys, flights of less than five hours will be the worst affected.

The minimum number of international short-haul flights guaranteed depends on the airport, ranging from 60 per cent at Valencia to just 49 per cent at Ibiza.

It comes as holidaymakers have already been warned to expect queues of up to four hours at European airports as the EU Entry and Exit system is implemented.

The Home Office has advised travellers to allow time at both sides of the journey as non-EU citizens will be required to have their fingerprints taken the first time they enter the Schengen area.

Once fully operational on April 10, the system will eradicate the need for physical stamping in passports.

As of October last year, airports began to be kitted out with self-service kiosks where passengers can enter their information.

The extra checks will also be carried out at the EU borders at the Port of Dover, St Pancras International and at Folkestone.

Will passengers be compensated for delayed or cancelled flights?

Under EU regulations, airlines are usually obliged to cover expenses caused by delays of more than two hours, including providing food and drink vouchers and accommodation.

For delays of more than three hours passengers can normally opt to either take a replacement flight or request a full refund of their ticket.

However airlines are exempt from providing compensation to passengers when the cause of delay is down to a factor outside of their control, such as a strike by third-party staff.

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