Pilots in Spain will cease activity at Spanish Airports for half-an-hour between 09:00 and 09.30 on Monday 7th June in protest of the report regarding Spanair flight JK5022 being leaked by national Cadena Ser. The protest has been called by the union Sepla which claims that an investigation into a plane crash must remain confidential, stipulating that the use of the recordings should be restricted exclusively to the investigation. Pilots are recorded while flying to help discover the causes of an accident and prevent future ones, but this incident has made them feel exposed.
The contents of the recording from the cockpit of flight JK5022 which crashed at Madrid Barajas Airport in 2008 claimed the lives of 154 people.
The pilots have said that they don’t intend to damage the airlines but simply draw attention to the problem so that a solution is found.
The Spanish airline Iberia has almost tripled the number of seats on flights to Johannesburg during the World Cup in South Africa in June and July.
The airline currently makes five return flights from Madrid Barajas Airport each week, but has added another flight every day and at the peak of the tournament there will be 10 flights per week. The additional capacity will reach 170%.
By codesharing with local carriers Iberia passengers can fly on from Johannesburg to three additional South African destinations: Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
Iberia will operate most of the flights using its largest and newest aircraft: the 342-seat Airbus A340-600.
Avianca of Colombia has announced a new direct twice weekly flight between Madrid Barajas Airport and Medellin in Colombia.
The new route will use an Airbus A330 and start operating from 3rd July every Thursday and Sunday departing at 13:10 from the Terminal 4 Satellite at Madrid’s Barajas International Airport.
The return flight from the Colombian provincial capital of Medellin departs at 18:20 on Wednesday and Saturday arriving in Madrid the following morning at 11:10.
Avianca now operate 19 weekly flights between Colombia and Europe. Connections are available from the UK on British Airways and Iberia.
The Spanish airline Andalus Líneas Aéreas has mounting debts of over £ 7 million and is now definitely cancelling services to from Gibraltar Airport to Madrid Airport as well as planned flights to Barcelona, Girona and Bilbao. The Barcelona Airport link was to have started on July 3rd.
Since its launch the airline has made several changes to the flight times but has only obtained an average occupancy of 30%.
The report comes as British Airways is understood to have reconsidered plans to double its daily flights to the Rock and raises questions over the prospect of Gibraltar Government getting any substantial return on the £50M public money being invested in the new Gibraltar Air Terminal.
Air Andalus’ flights from Gibraltar Airport to Madrid Barajas Airport have been suspended until April 19th due to “technical difficulties” after it was alleged they owed nearly half a million euros to a leasing company.
The airline is being sued by GE Capital Aviation Services over alleged debts of around €400,000 euros for leasing two aircrafts.
Terminal T2 in Madrid Barajas Airport has a new lottery shop (Administración de Lotería y Apuestas del Estado) located on the departures public space.
It is in the Boulevard on the second floor at Departures in Terminal T2 and is open from 07:00 to 20:00 Mondays to Fridays and from 07:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays.
Later this month Air Europa is to operate a fleet of Airbus 330-200 from Madrid Barajas Airport to Miami. The aircraft can carry 275 coach and 24 Club Business passengers and will depart from Miami International Airport at 21:50 at night, arriving in Madrid Barajas Airport at 12:10 the following day.
Business class travellers will enjoy access to VIP lounges, bonus miles and priority disembarkation of luggage. Economy and business class travellers will have ergonomic seating with more space between seats.
For additional information and to purchase tickets visit: www.aireuropa.com
Madrid-Barajas Airport has just opened a new Multitenda shop in the Boulevard in Terminal 2.
Multitienda Relay which will be open every day between 6:00 and 23:00 and sells a variety of items including newspapers and stationery, music and electronics, perfumes, travel accessories, toys and gifts as well as sandwiches, snacks and refreshments.
Madrid-Barajas airport has about 120 shopping outlets, distributed in the different terminals.
As a result of increased security procedures Iberia have requested that passengers flying with them to the United States get to Madrid Airport at least three hours before take off time.
The extra hour comes is a consequence of extra security measures being demanded by the United States on incoming flights, which has resulted in an additional control on passengers at the boarding gate.
They are also requesting that hand baggage be reduced to the absolute minimum and that passengers go to the boarding gate earlier than before because of the extra control being imposed there.