Air traffic controllers in Europe are threatening to strike from this summer.
It can affect up to a third of all flights every day – and even if the strike notice does not concern Swedish personnel, passengers to and from Sweden will be affected if the strike breaks out.
– We cannot control what happens in other airspaces. We will try to handle it as smoothly as possible, says Daniel Ackermann, press officer at the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority, LVF.
There are popular destinations over which the strike warning applies – those that can be mainly affected are Barcelona, London, Athens, Marseille, Brussels and Budapest. In that case, it is about over 12,000 flights a day. This reports Sky News.
During Tuesday, the British airline Easyjet announced that they are canceling 1,700 flights in July, August and September as a result of air traffic controller strikes. It affects approximately 180,000 passengers who, according to the airline, will be rebooked or refunded.
“Consequent delays and canceled flights”
Otherwise, during Monday, no updates on the negotiations between the trade unions in question and the employers on the continent reached either the Swedish LVF or Swedavia.
– What usually happens (in the event of a strike) is that there are various subsequent delays and canceled flights, says Swedavia’s press officer, Peter Wärring.
He continues:
– We as airport operators in Sweden are affected by late incoming traffic from various European hubs. Then there will be various types of consequential delays for our flights going abroad.
“Crowd in the airspace”
Daniel Ackermann at LVF says that it is difficult to speculate on exactly how and to what extent a strike could affect air traffic.
– Every strike looks different, it is only when it is underway that you know how it affects. Often strike notices can be withdrawn.
Air traffic controllers monitor the airspace, and if they strike, airspace must be closed. But it is not certain that all air traffic controllers will strike.
– Usually there are certain parts of the airspace that are open, but it can get crowded, says Ackermann.
This is how the strike is handled in Sweden
LVF cannot influence what happens in other airspace, but you have to try to manage the consequences it has for passengers to and from Sweden, here.
– What we can do at our place is try to predict the delays and work with our scheduling. Our biggest challenge will be scheduling, and a challenge for our customer Swedavia, says Ackermann at the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority.