Spanish bus drivers call off airport strikes

Spanish bus drivers have agreed not to repeat the strikes that affected thousands of Irish passengers flying to the Balearic …

Spanish bus drivers have agreed not to repeat the strikes that affected thousands of Irish passengers flying to the Balearic Islands this week.

As Spanish flights were getting back to normal after the drivers' three-day strike in Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza over the weekend, the busmen last night signed a new deal with their employers, a spokeswoman for the Balearic Institute of Tourism said.

Although details were not clear, reports said the drivers had not ruled out further action but had guaranteed not to disrupt services to and from airports.

There were delays of over five hours on Monday for some Irish holidaymakers flying from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the Spanish islands.

READ MORE

A 24-hour pilots' strike yesterday also caused hundreds of cancellations of British flights to Barcelona and Madrid. The strike also affected internal flights in Spain.

But passengers flying between Ireland and Spain yesterday were unaffected by the Iberia Airlines pilot strike, said Aer Rianta and the Irish Travel Agents' Association.

The pilots are striking for the reinstatement of their full pay, which was reduced before Iberia Airlines was privatised. They have threatened further one-day strikes on July 10th, 17th and 24th and August 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th and 31st.

The pilots' union and Iberia managers are meeting today to try and settle the dispute.

Additional reporting PA