The British government has warned air travellers between the UK and Portugal to expect delays this holiday period due to the planned strike action by borders staff.
The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) has scheduled a stoppage between the 26th and 28th of December.
"If you're travelling on these dates, allow for additional time to clear border controls when entering and exiting Portugal," reads the note released on Thursday morning by the British government.
The strike is an official one, called by the Union in protest against what SEF workers call a "lack of sensitivity" on the part of the Government over staffing issues.
As for the looming ‘hard Brexit’ the British owned Iberia airline may be prevented from carrying out domestic flights in Spain if no Brexit agreement is reached between Brussels and the UK government.
In the case of this hard Brexit scenario, the European Commission already has said that it wants to ensure that certain air services are kept in operation, for a year, as well as offering nine months leeway for certain aviation licenses.
Brussels insists that only airlines controlled by EU companies will be able to fly freely throughout Community territory and warns that, "if the conditions are not fulfilled as a result of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, operating license ceases to be valid."
Despite the strong impediment to air transport, Brussels notes that it notified the air carriers early in the negotiation process so they could take the necessary steps to continue flying in EU airspace.
Iberia is based at the Madrid-Barajas airport and, in April 2010, merged with British Airways, creating the International Airlines Group.
EasyJet has moved its pilots based in mainland Europe to Austrian and German licenses, to minimise the potential fall-out from a no-deal Brexit. The 1,400 pilots affected now use licenses issued by Austria.
“Depending on the outcome of Brexit, U.K. pilot licences may not be valid within the EU,” the company said.
EasyJet already has created a new airline based in Vienna specifically to keep its EU planes flying after Brexit, registering 110 aircraft to the new entity.
EU officials warned in March 2017 that UK-based airlines will have to relocate their headquarters to the EU or sell shares to EU nationals, if they want to avoid seeing routes within continental Europe axed after March 29th 2019.
