Bilbao airport expects to manage 175 flights today, out of the 1,674 operations scheduled for the entire holiday period since March 27. The convergence of the end of Easter Week holidays with the start of Easter holidays makes this the busiest day of the year. Despite the intense movement, the airport presents an image of normality.
In the early hours, passengers departing from Loiu were the most affected by delays. Between 6:45 AM and 8:30 AM, six flights departed between half an hour and 40 minutes later than scheduled. The longest delay was experienced by the flight bound for Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, which was supposed to depart at 8:00 AM but only took off at 9:30 AM. After midday, the flight to Lanzarote also announced a delay of more than an hour, departing at 2:24 PM instead of 1:35 PM.
Minutes later, the flight to Frankfurt joined the list with a new delay of one hour and twenty-five minutes (it was supposed to depart at 2:10 PM and will now depart at 3:35 PM). In this latter case, the flight coming from the German city to the Bizkaian capital was diverted, accumulating the corresponding delay. Other flights that saw their departures delayed by more than half an hour included those bound for Lisbon, Munich, or Madrid. All of them took off between 12:30 PM and 1:00 PM.
Regarding arrivals, beyond forecasts advanced or delayed by around 15 minutes, the flight from Palma de Mallorca stands out. Its landing was delayed by more than an hour, from 12:45 PM to 1:49 PM. Despite the mentioned delays, sources from Aena explain that the airport "is and has been operating normally" during Easter Week and this Easter Monday.
Easter Monday coincided at the airport with the fourth day of a strike called by Groundforce workers, one of the ground handling service companies at Loiu. These professionals are responsible for attending check-in counters and managing all aspects related to luggage. Unions have called for strikes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays during the time slots of 5 AM to 7 AM; 11 AM to 5 PM; and 10 PM to midnight.
Check-in counters for flights to Lanzarote or Istanbul, for example, have experienced significant queues. In Loiu, Groundforce provides services to Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Brussels, Swiss Air, Wizz Air, Austrian, Air Europa, Norwegian, Air Arabia, TAP, SAS, Smartwings, and Turkish Airlines. These companies account for approximately 30% of the total traffic at 'La Paloma'. Workers demand compliance with agreed salary tables, including updates based on the rise in the CPI.
“"The minimum services are abusive, exceeding 90%."
This Monday, about twenty workers gathered in the airport's entrance hall to denounce their situation and criticize the minimum services, which they consider "abusive," as stated by Lohitzune Gutiez, spokesperson for CC OO.
