Airport woes persist as strike ends

The chaos continues at Palma de Mallorcas airport

British tourists face delays of up to 50 hours to travel plans despite an end to a coach drivers' strike over pay in Spain's Balearic islands.

Passengers who should have boarded flights at airports around the UK last weekend remain stranded but some are being given "priority slots" on Monday to finally reach their destination.

An Airtours flight from Gatwick to Palma, Majorca, which should have left at 2210BST on Saturday has been re-scheduled to leave at 2330BST on Monday - a delay of 49 hours 20 minutes.

Tour operators' advice for holidaymakers

Check flight times with airlines or tour operators

Check-in on time anyway

Pack travel essentials in hand luggage

Be prepared for delays

Holidaymakers have been advised to seek compensation via their insurance companies.

One family told how they abandoned their holiday after waiting almost a day for a flight from East Midlands airport to Menorca.

Sarah Carder, her disabled husband Mike and their two young daughters spent a night in a hotel before learning their flight had been cancelled. They have been offered compensation.

Kenneth Pitcairn, from Livingston, West Lothian, was among 378 passengers forced to spend two nights in a hotel after a Saturday evening flight from Glasgow to Menorca was delayed by nearly 36 hours.

Travelling with his wife Shona and sons Murray and Kyle, aged nine and five, he said : "It has been a frustrating start to a two-week holiday which we were all looking forward to.

'Nightmare'

"We are still a bit worried because we don't know what we're going to get when we arrive. We've been told we'll be able to go straight through but I don't really believe that."

Alan Flook, secretary general of the Federation of Tour Operators, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Everybody learns from experience and this is the worst experience I can remember.

"The problem is that air traffic control and general infrastructure is stretched under normal circumstances. When you get pressures like this we get situations."

The waiting continues for some tourists

The 72-hour coach drivers' strike which ended at midnight on Sunday has caused disruption for thousands of British holidaymakers travelling to Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza.

Average flight delays have stretched to five hours, compounded by three-hour taxi queues at airport destinations.

"There are 2,000 coach drivers in the Balearics," added Mr Flook. "When they're not available the availability of transport is horrendous. It's been a nightmare for everybody concerned."

He said airlines were advising travellers to check in on time despite likely delays to their scheduled flights, because these could change as flight slots became available.

More strikes

Tempers flared over the weekend as passengers complained they had not been given enough information by their tour operators.

The national Efe news agency reported that police were called in to escort buses driven by non-strikers but the vehicles were turned back by angry protesters

Some airport phone numbers

Manchester: 0161 489 8000

Gatwick: 0870 0002468

Cardiff: 01446 711111

Glasgow: 0141 849 0904

East Midlands: 0845 606 6669

Bristol: 0870 121 2747

Belfast: 028 9442 2888

A spokesman for the Federation of Tour Operators, which represents 90% of the market in the UK, said he hoped the deal struck in the coach drivers' dispute would prevent further strike action.

However, union leaders on the islands have warned that further action could cripple the transport system again later this month if bus drivers and employers failed to reach an accord.

Drivers rejected an agreement in principle reached by union leaders and management on Sunday that would have meant an 18% pay raise spread over three years.

The drivers want an immediate pay rise and better overtime pay.

They are threatening to go on indefinite strike if a deal is not reached with the regional government.

Manuel Izquierdo of the CCOO trade union said drivers plan further stoppages, the next on 15 July.

"If this isn't resolved, there will be more striking," he confirmed.