Travellers heading to Greece and Spain have been warned to expect serious disruption on Wednesday because of a general strike.
A number of airlines have already cancelled flights ahead of the walk-out which is occurring in response to austerity measures. No-frills airline easyJet has scrapped 26 flights, including services from Gatwick, Barcelona and Madrid.
The low-fare carrier has also rescheduled a further ten flights, including some from Gatwick and Manchester and from Gatwick to Thessaloniki. The strike was called by the European Trade Union Confederation over deep cuts and reforms across the debt torn countries.
The strikes and demonstrations are likely to affect different countries at different times, with Spain and the Canary Islands beginning a 24-hour strike at 00:01 on Wednesday morning local time and workers in Greece taking action from 3pm. In a statement, easyJet said: “easyJet are proactively trying to minimize disruption, however, we would like to warn customers that they could experience delays to their travel plans.
“We advise passengers planning to travel on November 14 to keep checking our website for updates.” Iberia has cancelled more than 200 flights as a direct result of the strikes planned for Wednesday and British Airways said it was anticipating the travel disruptions to its services.
Flight cancellations can often be claimed for on your travel insurance, but there are a number of issues which might prevent you from being able to seek compensation. One example of this would be natural disasters and events that are typically beyond the airline’s control. It would be advisable to check your travel insurance policy to see what you are entitled to during an event such as s general strike. According to the UK European consumer centre (trading standards institute), if you are flying to or from the EU on an EU carrier you are entitled to a refund, re-route or compensation if there are delays.
Date Created: 13/11/2012
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