Wego maps Europe strike disruption
- Wego said overlapping April walkouts by Lufthansa unions, Spanish controllers and Stansted assistance staff disrupted flights through Frankfurt, Munich, Spanish regional airports and London. - Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport closed its runway from April 23 to May 27 for works, with airlines shifting some routes to A Coruña and Vigo. - The strike wave has eased in Germany, but Spain’s indefinite action and Santiago’s closure keep pressure on summer bookings. (blog.wego.com)
Europe’s spring flight disruption is now a patchwork: Lufthansa strikes have paused, but Spain’s controller walkout and Santiago’s runway closure are still hitting travelers. (blog.wego.com 1) (blog.wego.com 2) (aena.es) In Germany, Lufthansa said its April strike wave ended on April 17, and its mainline schedule was operating normally again by April 23. Wego said the peak April 13-14 pilot strike canceled 1,411 Lufthansa Group flights and delayed another 2,571 across Europe. (blog.wego.com 1) (blog.wego.com 2) The labor dispute is not over. Wego said Lufthansa’s pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit and cabin crew union UFO returned to negotiations, while Lufthansa Group also shut down regional unit Lufthansa CityLine on April 16 and is cutting about 20,000 short-haul flights through October 2026. (blog.wego.com) Spain is the live pressure point. Wego said an indefinite air traffic control strike began at midnight on April 17 at 14 SAERCO-run airports, with Lanzarote and Fuerteventura among the hardest hit. (blog.wego.com) The strike does not cover state-run ENAIRE towers at Madrid-Barajas or Barcelona-El Prat, which Wego said are operating with normal air traffic control coverage. The unions USCA and Comisiones Obreras called the action after mediation with SAERCO failed on April 10. (blog.wego.com) Spain’s Ministry of Transport imposed minimum service levels, but Wego cited Spanish press estimates that about 20,000 flight movements and 2.6 million passengers could be affected in the first month. Airlines named by Wego as exposed include Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2, TUI, British Airways, Vueling, Iberia and Binter Canarias. (blog.wego.com) A separate disruption in Spain is not a strike at all. Aena closed Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport from April 23 to May 27 for the most complex phase of a runway renewal project and said airlines had already reassigned part of Santiago’s routes to A Coruña and Vigo. (aena.es 1) (aena.es 2) At London Stansted, the disruption came from the ground. Unite said more than 100 ABM workers who assist passengers with disabilities struck from April 17 to April 20 after rejecting a pay offer worth pennies per hour, warning that boarding delays would ripple into flights. (unitetheunion.org) Wego’s map pulls those separate problems into one summer warning: some strike dates have passed, but unresolved labor talks, reduced Lufthansa capacity and Spain’s still-open disruption risks are carrying into bookings now. (blog.wego.com)
