Madrid's international airport was shut down in a surprise development Friday evening amid a massive work action by air controllers which also affected other airports, dpa reported.
Spanish radio said that airports on the islands of Menorca and Majorca, as well as the Canary Islands, were shut down, while the Transportation Ministry convened an emergency meeting.
The work action, in which only a few controllers turned up for work, also affected air space over the Spanish capital, so that no incoming flights were possible, officials of the public airport authority AENA said.
In their surprise announcement, the controllers said they were not in a position to carry out their duties and were staying off their jobs.
The action was seen as an apparent protest move by the controllers over a new working hours decision approved by the cabinet on Friday.
The work action comes on the eve national holidays next Monday and Wednesday being national holidays, offering Spaniards the chance of an extended weekend break. On Friday alone some 150,000 people had been scheduled to fly in Spain.
AENA recommended to passengers not to go to the airports in order to avoid further chaos.
"The decision to paralyze air traffic in the country is of an extreme gravity," AENA said, and could have disciplinary repercussions for those controllers who did not appear for work.
The German airline Lufthansa meanwhile said it was cancelling six flights to Spain , while the second-largest German carrier, Air Berlin, also said it had been strongly affected. A spokesman said the air controllers work action was foreseen lasting until midnight.
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