There are no flights to or from the Canary Islands affected by the Iberia strike, there are no delays in flights arriving to the Islands, and the impact of the pilots' mobilization among Canary Islanders connecting through Madrid or Barcelona with the company's flights to other parts of Spain or the world "is being minimal".
However, the one truly suffering the impact of the pilots' mobilization in the Islands is Iberia itself, given that the strike has led to a sharp decline in reservations due to the possibility of stoppages on other dates, well into the summer, if an agreement with SEPLA is not reached.
This was explained by the president of the Travel Agencies of the province of Las Palmas, Rafael Gallego, who pointed out that, since this strike "has been announced for so many days", travelers from the Islands have immediately worried about finding alternatives or have ensured that the alternative offered by Iberia did not cause them major problems.
Iberia has also had to add the drop in reservations from the Islands to another drop in its sales from the Canary Islands since last February, when the new Terminal T-4 came into operation. "This is the T-4 effect," said Gallego, who defined it as the aversion that passengers from the Archipelago have "to suffer in Madrid" the extra time involved in landing at the new passenger terminal.
In fact, Gallego explained that Iberia has even quantified the drop in sales of flights from the Canary Islands to Madrid since the opening of the new Terminal between 38 and 40 percent, compared to the same months of the previous year. "Any waiting time suffered by the passenger is stress, and passengers seek comfort," said Gallego.
"Any travel agent in the Canary Islands will tell you that many people expressly ask not to arrive in Madrid through T-4," said Rafael Gallego, who explains that, when arriving through this terminal, "people who are in a bit of a hurry have to take a taxi", which is more expensive than when arriving through the normal terminal, and that taking the metro or bus is almost ruled out because "they are very far from T-4" and you have to walk a lot.
Therefore, adding the two factors together, "the impact of all this on Iberia's sales is going to be very important" this summer, at least in relation to flights linked to the Archipelago.
