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Ryanair strike in Spain this week: the dates, flights and airports affected
The nationwide strike will impact all of Ryanair’s permanent bases in Spain
Ground staff who work for Azul Handling, the company that provides aircraft handling services for Ryanair in Spain, are going on a nationwide strike from this week. The industrial action will affect operations at Spanish airports where Ryanair has a permanent base.
The strike will directly affect ground assistance services such as check in, boarding and aircraft and baggage handling. While Ryanair is still insisting disruption will be minimal, the unions claim it will indirectly affect flights which could face cancellations or delays.
When are the strikes?
The strike begins this Friday August 15. After the first three days on August 15, 16 and 17 it will continue every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until December 31, 2025.
In total, there are 76 strike days. As well as August, the strike includes weekends on September 6 and 7 and September 13 and 14, October 11 and 12, December 20 and 21 and December 27 and 28, along with the last day of the year.
The strike will take place from 5am to 9am, from 12 midday to 3pm and again from 9pm to 11:59pm.
Airports impacted by the strikes
The strike will be in force at all of the company’s bases and work centres in Spain. Ryanair has permanent bases in Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Tenerife South and Valencia.
Which airports will not be affected?
Flights departing from or arriving at airports where Ryanair does not have a fixed base sould not be directly affected. These include Almería, Asturias, Castellón, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Menorca, Murcia, Reus, Santander, Tenerife Norte, Vigo, Vitoria and Zaragoza.
However, even without Azul Handling ground staff working there, these flights could be delayed because of disruption to the wider Ryanair network.
Why are they striking?
The unions UGT and CGT say the reasons are the lack of stable job creation and the failure to consolidate working hours for permanent part time employees. They also point to what they describe as the “imposition and coercion” of overtime work.
They refer to “disproportionate punishments” for workers who repeatedly refuse to work overtime.
What began as planned partial strikes at Madrid Barajas Airport has now become a national strike.
The unions also accuse Ryanair of “repeated failure to comply” with rulings of the Joint Committee of the sectoral agreement on guarantees and bonuses. They say there are also restrictions on returning to work after medical discharge and a refusal to adapt working hours for family needs.
The CGT says it regrets “having to resort to a strike, but the situation has become unsustainable for Azul Handling-Ryanair, which not only makes employment precarious but also commits all kinds of labour abuses that affect both payroll payments and basic social rights provided for in both the collective agreement and the workers' statute.”
What Ryanair says
Ryanair is still insistent that the nationwide strike won’t impact passengers.
“We do not expect any disruption to our operations as a result of these third-party assistance strikes in Spain,” the airline said in a statement.
Although this is a strike by ground crew, incidents affecting takeoffs and landings are likely, especially on busier days.
Could it be called off?
The organising unions have requested mediation before the Interconfederal Mediation and Arbitration Service as a preliminary step. However, the CGT says there is no indication that the company is willing to negotiate.
Image: Ryanair
