Compensation for passengers affected by strike at El Prat

The government has put forward a plan in which passengers who were affected by the strike at El Prat airport on the 28th July will receive compensation.

El Prat, one of Spain's major airports, was closed unexpectedly on one of the busiest days of the holiday season. Runways were invaded by a group Iberia’s baggage handlers protesting against the possibility of subcontracting their work to other companies, something which they said could result in up to 900 Iberia staff being made redundant.

The consequences were that almost 800 flights had to be cancelled and many more were seriously delayed. It is expected that measures will be approved today and that 15 – 20 million euros will be paid out in compensation to passengers. The final costs are unknown. A bill for the total costs of compensation will later be given to Iberia.

It is thought that 300 euros will be paid to passenger’s whose flights were cancelled and 100 euros to those who were delayed. It will be up to passengers to give proof. These measures have been put into place following a government meeting on 10th August in which the Minister for Industry, Magdalena Álvarez, made a commitment to help those affected. It was also agreed that proceedings would be taken against Iberia for breach of air traffic security.

So far over 20,000 claims for compensation have already been made although this figure is expected to rise significantly.