Easter travel chaos
Spain is facing widespread airport strikes over the Easter period that could trigger flight delays and cancellations—check your routes and consider alternatives now (idealista.com). At the same time Emirates has announced sweeping flight suspensions across the Middle East because of the Iran crisis, and British holidaymakers are already rerouting toward European sunspots instead of Dubai ( ).
Spain’s main unions CCOO, UGT and USO have called indefinite strike action at ground‑handling firms Groundforce and Menzies, with Groundforce action set to begin on March 27 and Menzies on March 28. (aviation.direct) Groundforce’s stoppages are reported to affect operations at about 12 airports including Madrid‑Barajas, Barcelona‑El Prat and Palma de Mallorca, while Menzies walkouts are expected to hit Canary Islands hubs such as Gran Canaria and Tenerife. (52spain.com; canarianweekly.com) Unions say the action will target baggage handling, aircraft turnaround and boarding, and some companies have warned of partial stoppages on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during Semana Santa — Spain’s Holy Week peak when millions of passengers pass through the country’s airports. (euronews.com; majorcadailybulletin.com) Emirates announced a temporary suspension of flights to and from Dubai in mid‑March and both the airline’s travel‑updates page and the Dubai Media Office advised passengers not to travel to Dubai International while operations were halted. (emirates.com; whatson.ae) The carrier has published flexible rebooking and refund options for affected tickets booked during late‑February and March, and industry trackers report regional cancellations approaching roughly 23% as carriers trimmed networks and rerouted services. (dfa.co.za; thetraveler.org) UK travel firms told the BBC that British holidaymakers are rebooking away from Dubai, driving a surge in bookings to Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Caribbean and causing alternative routes and packages to fill faster than this time last year. (travel.yahoo.com; altitudesmagazine.com)
