UK travellers heading to Spain face a minimum of three days of strikes this month.

Airport news for Travel,Flights on 09/08/2010.

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Thousands of British holidaymakers face yet more travel chaos, after air traffic controllers in Spain voted in favour of industrial action. An exact date has yet to be set but the strike will begin after 16 August. Some 300,000 British tourists headed for Spain for their holidays face the miserable prospect of yet more European travel headaches. Should the Spanish industrial action go ahead, up to half of flights could be cancelled on strike days.

It has already been a miserable year for British travellers, following a series of strikes by cabin crew at British Airways earlier this year, a strike by French air traffic controllers last month, and the volcanic ash-cloud chaos. Now, air traffic controllers in the USCA union have voted to go on strike after new rules were implemented that require them to work more hours and take shorter breaks during shifts.

The USCA union represents about 95 per cent of air traffic controllers. In the ballot, 98 per cent of members voted in favour of strikes. The Spanish government cut controllers’ salaries in February by about 40 per cent. At the time, it had been revealed that some controllers were earning as much as £800,000 per year. Despite the salary cuts, the average controller still earns nearly £170,000 a year. Their colleagues in the UK are on basic annual salaries of between £60,000 and £80,000, says National Air Traffic Control Services.

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