Iberia pilots vote to renew strike action

Iberia pilots on Tuesday announced they would resume strike action to protest the creation of Iberia Express, a low-cost short-to-medium-haul carrier, after mediation by former labor minister Manuel Pimentel failed to resolve the conflict.

The pilots voted to hold a series of one-day strikes every Monday and Friday from April 9 to July 20, which means a total of 24 days of stoppages.

Sources at Iberia said that every day of strikes cost the airline three million euros. It estimated that the action by the pilots would affect 2,500 flights.

Iberia pilots held 12 days of stoppages between December of last year and February, which the company estimates cost it 36 million euros.

Iberia Express was launched at the weekend by the airline, and will be offering domestic flights at budget prices, as well as having plans to start flying to destinations such as Dublin, Riga, Mikonos and Naples in the summer. Iberia said the creation of the budget carrier was necessary to stem losses on its short- to medium-haul flights. Iberia booked an operating loss last year of 61 million euros.