Ryanair pilots’ strike, visas for Tenerife and flying to Cape Town

Got a question? Our expert, Simon Calder, can help

Ponta Delgada, Azores: only one UK flight a week serves the archipelago (Simon Calder)

We have booked to returning from the Azores on 23 August with Ryanair, which is one of the days of the planned strike.

As the Azores are isolated there is only one direct flight a week from Manchester. We have checked returns via Portugal and space is very limited and the prices are high. What would your advice be in this situation? Would Ryanair be responsible for getting us home? Would we be liable for the cost?

Pat P

Pilots employed by Ryanair in the UK and belonging to the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) have voted to strike, and have announced industrial action on 22 and 23 August as well as 2, 3 and 4 September. They say they are exasperated about the unwillingness of Europe’s biggest budget airline to tackle a wide range of issues from pensions to maternity benefits.

Ryanair says “Balpa have no mandate to disrupt our customers holidays and flights,” and claims that some senior captains are paid £15,000 per month.

While there is no certainty that the strike will go ahead – both sides say they want to talk – experience of stoppages involving Ryanair over the past year or so indicate that the airline is prepared to face down groups of workers who take industrial action.

Initially I hoped to say I see no prospect of your flight being affected by the planned strike at Ryanair. The industrial action involves only pilots based in the UK (perhaps soon to be joined by some in Ireland) . But your flight FR9033 is crewed from Portugal – whose pilots are not planning a strike.

All of that is still true, but now cabin crew working for Ryanair in Portugal are threatening industrial action too. The Portuguese union SNVPAC has announced a strike between 21 and 25 August in protest against a plan to close the Ryanair base in Faro. Your planned flight is right in the middle.

However, precisely because of the infrequency of Ryanair’s weekly nonstop service from Ponta Delgada in the Azores to Manchester, it is exactly the sort of flight that the airline will want to protect if possible during a strike. That is partly due to the considerable expense and difficulty of getting 180 passengers from the Azores to Manchester on anything other than the direct flight.

But unless you have a pressing need to get back to Manchester on time, you can relax. In the event that your flight is among those cancelled, then Ryanair will need to get you home – probably via mainland Portugal, and perhaps by picking up the bill for an expensive ticket on TAP Portugal or easyJet. And while you are waiting to be taken back to Manchester, Ryanair must also find a hotel for you and provide all your meals.

Will I need a visa for a long stay in Tenerife this winter? (iStock)

Could you please let me know if I can stay in Tenerife for two-and-a-half months this winter and then stay again for five weeks in April and May 2020 without getting a visa?

Doreen B

No, I am afraid I cannot. For as long as the UK remains within the European Union you can travel to Spain and stay for as long as you wish. But as Brexit has been set for 31 October 2019, the rules may change dramatically from 1 November onwards.

Under Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, for which many members of the new government (including the current prime minister) voted, the plan was, in effect, to pretend for a couple of years that the UK had not left the EU. Therefore you would have been able to continue to enjoy long holidays in the Canaries while the long-term details were being worked out.

But Boris Johnson’s government has now rejected the withdrawal agreement and is moving towards a no-deal Brexit. If this happens, one immediate effect will be dramatically to restrict British travellers’ freedom of movement in Europe. As visa-exempt third-country nationals, we will be able to stay in Spain for only 90 days in any 180 days.

This is not a straightforward concept to grasp, so let me give an example. If you travel to Tenerife on 1 November 2019 and stay there until 15 January 2020, you will have used 76 of your days. That means in the entire following 104 days, which takes us to 28 April, you will be able to stay only 14 extra days.

But from 29 April, the November/December/January spell will start to be discounted with every day that passes, and you can extend your stay up to late June before you will need to take a three-month gap.

Anyone fortunate enough to have a European Union passport after Brexit will avoid such tricky arithmetic – which is why many of those who can trace Irish ancestry are urgently apply for a Republic of Ireland travel document.

While I am happy to tackle questions about the possible travel impact of Brexit, you could also ask your MP – since he or she will help to decide the future travel opportunities and constraints for UK citizens.

How can I be sure my plane is safe on my trip to Africa? (Getty/iStock)

My girlfriend and I are going to Cape Town in June 2020. We are looking at Ethiopian Airlines. They are cheap (less than £500 return) but are they safe?

Gavin H

If all you want to do is make the 6,000-mile long haul from Heathrow to the southern tip of Africa as swiftly as possible, the optimum choice is the British Airways nonstop. But at over £800 return, even in the deep South Africa winter next year, it is an expensive choice.

Paying under £500 for a one-stop trip via Addis Ababa is an outstanding deal, and I urge you to take it. Ethiopian Airlines is by far the best airline in Africa, flying the most modern fleet – including Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft – and with excellent inflight service.

The airline lost 157 passengers and crew in the ET302 tragedy in March 2019. An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft crashed shortly after departure from Addis Ababa on a flight to Nairobi. But the tragedy resulted from a fatally flawed anti-stall system, which forced the aircraft nose down despite the pilots’ efforts to keep the plane aloft. I do not believe that Ethiopian Airlines staff were at fault, and would not hesitate to fly on the carrier again.

As Addis Ababa is a long way east of the direct London-Cape Town track, it adds about 900 miles to the nonstop distance – about two hours’ flying. The distances of each leg amounts to a transatlantic crossings: 3,675 miles from London to the Ethiopian capital and 3,240 onwards to Cape Town. So I strongly suggest you instead plan a stopover in the city. It is a friendly, relaxed capital, and provides a fascinating glimpse of Ethiopian life as well as a break between two long flights.

And if that is not an option, take advantage of the one-hour transfer on the southbound journey at Ethiopian Airlines’ modern hub.

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