Airports Security U-turn mystery
Holidaymakers who feared long delays at Spanish airports were left puzzled yesterday.
After chaotic scenes last week because of extra secur it y checks – and warnings of more to come – Britons were waved through .
In an apparent U-turn by airport authorities, tourists who had braced themselves for long delays were given just cursory checks.
It followed misery last week across Europe when st r icter check s were imposed for UK travellers from outside the EU’s open border Schengen zone.
Airlines predicted this weekend would be one of the busiest of the year and advised passengers to turn up earlier than usual to beat the delays.
But families returning home and jetting in to the Costa del Sol yesterday said they had gone through “very quickly”. Aage Duenhaupt of Airlines for Europe, who represent many firms, said he could not say if the shorter queues were down to a U-turn by airports.
He said: “We don’t know whether the passport control has gone back to the old system. For us, it ’s important that passengers have hassle-free travel.”
Holidaymakers going through Barcelona are sti l l facing disruption though.
Workers at the airport are staging one-hour strikes in a pay and conditions dispute, with an all- out stoppage threatened from August 14.