EXPLAINER: Ryanair and EasyJet strikes in Spain, what rights do passengers have?

FOLLOWING a series of easyJet and Ryanair strikes, thousands of passengers travelling to and from Spain have found their flights delayed or cancelled.

Here, the Euro Weekly News sets out passengers´ rights during the airline strikes in Spain.

EasyJet 

EasyJet airline strikes in Spain are affecting an estimated 400 cabin crew in the workplaces of the airports of Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.

The strikes are set to take place on 15, 16, 17, 29, 30 and 31 July 2022, from 12pm until midnight.

EasyJet has signed a resolution with Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda in which it  has secured protection for a percentage of easyJet flights at Spain´s main airports.

For Barcelona airport: 57% flight protection.

For Malaga airport: 56% flight protection.

For Palma de Mallorca airport: 51% flight protection.

EasyJet is also legally required to make sure it fulfils the necessary technical positioning operations and other operations such as the positioning of crews necessary for the effective performance of essential air transport services, both during the days affected by the strikes and the days following.

Flights whose scheduled departure time was prior to the start of the strike and whose scheduled arrival is during the strike period are also allegedly protected by the resolution, including both scheduled and charter flights.

Cabin crew members are still expected to provide food and drink to passengers who request it, as it is considered to be essential to the health and safety of passengers.

According to the resolution, EasyJet must take the necessary measures to ensure that the aforementioned requirements are met.

Ryanair

Ryanair airline strikes in Spain are affecting an estimated 1,890 cabin crew belonging to Ryanair, Crawling and Workforce, in the workplaces of the airports of Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Alicante, Seville, Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, Gerona, Santiago de Compostela and Ibiza.

Strikes have so far taken place on 24, 25, 26 and 30 June, and on 1 and 2 July.  Further dates have been announced for strike action on July 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, and 28 from 12pm to midnight, although these have not been confirmed.

Ryanair signed a resolution with Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda in which they committed to protecting the following percentage of flights.

For domestic routes to or from non-mainland territories:

• For Madrid airport: 78% flight protection.
• For Malaga airport: 81% flight protection.
• For Barcelona airport: 80% flight protection.
• For Alicante airport: 73% flight protection.
• For Seville airport: 78% flight protection.
• For Palma de Mallorca airport: 73% flight protection.
• For Valencia airport: 74% flight protection.
• For Santiago airport: 76% flight protection.
• For Ibiza airport: 82% flight protection.

For routes within Spanish mainland and foreign cities, whose alternative means of public transport has a journey time of 5 hours or more:

• For Madrid airport: 58% flight protection.
• For Malaga airport: 58% flight protection.
• For Barcelona airport: 58% flight protection.
• For Alicante airport: 58% flight protection.
• For Seville airport: 57% flight protection.
• Palma de Mallorca airport: 56% flight protection.
• For Valencia airport: 58% flight protection.
• For Gerona airport: 53% flight protection.
• For Santiago airport: 53% flight protection.
• For Ibiza airport: 56% flight protection.

For routes with Spanish mainland cities whose alternative means of transport are the same as the ones used by the air carrier on the Spanish mainland public transport with a journey time of less than 5 hours:

• For Barcelona airport: 36% flight protection.
• For the rest of the airports, in the event that flights of this type are registered: 36% protection of flights.

Ryanair airline is also legally required to make sure it fulfils the necessary technical positioning operations and other operations such as the positioning of crews necessary for the effective performance of essential air transport services, both during the days affected by the strikes and the days following.

Flights whose scheduled departure time was prior to the start of the strike and whose scheduled arrival is during the strike period are also allegedly protected by the resolution, including both scheduled and charter flights.

Cabin crew members are still expected to provide food and drink to passengers who request it, as it is considered to be essential to the health and safety of passengers.

According to the resolution, Ryanair must take the necessary measures to ensure that the aforementioned requirements are met.

Passenger compensation rights for all airlines operating in Spain

According to Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda these are the passenger compensation rights that apply to all airlines operating in Spain.

Cancellation is considered the non-operation of the scheduled flight for which we had purchased a ticket. A delay is defined as the delay of the flight at the airport of origin in relation to the time initially scheduled in your reservation.

Passengers rights in both cases are: Right to information, assistance and reimbursement or re-routing on the same terms as denied boarding, and Right to be compensated (except in extraordinary circumstances and if the flight is sufficiently delayed).

When arriving at the final destination three or more hours after the arrival time initially scheduled by the airline, the passenger may be entitled to compensation identical to that which would be due in case of cancellation of a flight, unless the airline can prove that the delay was caused by an extraordinary circumstance.

The financial compensation paid out is established on the basis of the distance to the destination, provided that the delay is at least three hours or more.

Under normal circumstances passengers are entitled to the following compensation:

• Cancelled flights up to 1.500 km distance are compensated with €250, reduced by 50% if a replacement flight arrives in less than two hours.

• Cancelled flights of more than 1.500 km distance are compensated with €400, reduced by 50% if a replacement flight arrives in less than three hours.

• Cancelled flights of more than 3.500 km distance are compensated with €600, reduced by 50% if a replacement flight arrives in less than four hours.

According to Spain’s Organiser of Consumers and Users, passengers also have the following rights in regards to cancellations:

If the cancellation is made for a journey scheduled to take place in two weeks or more, the airline will be obliged to reimburse you for the cost of the ticket.

If you are notified of the cancellation between 14 and seven days before the scheduled departure time, you are entitled to automatic compensation if you are not offered alternative transport that allows you to leave no more than two hours before the scheduled departure and allows you to arrive at your final destination less than four hours later than the scheduled departure time.

If less than seven days notice is given, you are entitled to automatic compensation unless you are offered an alternative flight leaving no more than one hour before the scheduled time and arriving at your destination less than two hours later than the scheduled time.

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