Aer Lingus strike sees 36 Spanish students stranded in Wexford – ‘There’s a bit of a scramble on now’

A group of 36 Spanish students have been left stranded in Wexford as a result of the ongoing industrial action by Aer Lingus pilots, which is causing travel chaos for people travelling to and from the country.

The group of students, aged from 12 to 17, had been on a week-long trip to Ireland through the Slaney Language Centre in Wexford town.

Having stayed with host families locally and taken part in numerous tours around the county, the group was due to return to Spain on an Aer Lingus flight at 1.30 a.m. Saturday morning. However, as a result of the ongoing strike action, the flight was cancelled.

"There’s a bit of a scramble on now to find alternative accommodation,” long-term tour guide and bus driver for the language centre Jim Shannon said.

"Hopefully Aer Lingus will foot the bill for this. It's not a nice thing though. The kids were looking forward to getting home to Mammy and Daddy and then you have to tell them they’re not going.”

As things stand, the language centre has been told that the flight has been rescheduled for Tuesday, however, whether this will be the case or not remains to be seen with a further 122 flights set to be cancelled this week, as the pay dispute between pilots and the airline continues.

While Mark Tighe, the president of the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa), said he was “optimistic” an agreement could be reached on pilots’ pay, he warned that if talks break down, the ­result will be severe regarding disruption.

It is the threat of this disruption that is causing considerable stress for Slaney Language Centre.

“This could have a big impact,” Jim Shannon said. “At the moment, there’s about 130 or 140 students over with us. We don't know if or when their flights will be going.”

Owned by Lisa Bartsch and Esteban Martinez, The Slaney Language Centre has been in business for nearly 25 years, bringing students from the continent to study English in Wexford. The pandemic aside, it’s the first time they’ve encountered a problem like this.

"The centre has been doing amazing work over the past 25 years," Jim said. “Thousands of students have travelled to Wexford and it’s been a big boost to the local economy too. We travel around to all the tourist and heritage sites around the county.”

Jim says that all involved are hopeful that the Spanish kids will be able to return home on Tuesday, but they’ll have to wait and see.

"I think the parents at the far side are getting a bit concerned now too,” he said. “We only got word that the flight was going to be cancelled on Thursday. It’s just put everyone under major pressure.”

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