Industrial unrest at Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas El Prat Airport took a new twist on 21 September 2026 when the CGT union accused handling company Groundforce of sacking two members of the strike committee and workplace-safety team. The dismissals triggered fresh protests and renewed calls for an indefinite walkout that has already caused weeks of baggage delays and flight cancellations across Europe—including routes linking Barcelona and Prague. Václav Havel Airport Prague has reiterated its advisory that flights from Spain are subject to last-minute schedule changes and that arriving luggage may be off-loaded onto later services. Airlines operating the sector, among them Vueling, Smartwings and Iberia, are waiving re-booking fees where seats are available but warn that capacity is tight as autumn-school holidays approach. For Czech businesses, the impact goes beyond holiday-makers. Barcelona hosts several regional headquarters whose executives commute to Central Europe, and the route is popular with Czech IT contractors working on short-term assignments in Catalonia. Mobility managers should advise travellers to keep essential work items in cabin baggage and to allow flexible meeting schedules. The Spanish Ministry of Transport has ordered minimum service levels of 80 per cent on inter-EU flights, yet union officials claim cancellations remain higher because airlines prefer to axe connecting legs rather than domestic services protected by stricter quotas. Lawyers note that under EU 261/2004 rules, ground-handling strikes generally count as extraordinary circumstances, limiting compensation but not the duty of care. Negotiations between CGT and Groundforce are scheduled for 24 September. Unless a breakthrough emerges, Prague travellers face continued uncertainty, and importers of Catalan perishables are preparing contingency trucking routes via Vienna and Munich.
Source: Tercera Información
