MADRID: Frustrated passengers waited in line for long periods at Barcelona’s El Prat airport on Friday as security guards staged a partial strike at the peak of the holiday season, an AFP journalist saw.

Airport mangement company Aena urged passengers to arrive earlier than usual for their flights, saying they could expect delays of at least 40 minutes.

But passengers questioned by AFP said the wait was far longer.

The dispute centres on workload and staffing levels at the busy airport, which uses 360 non-unionised guards under a contract with a multinational firm, Eulen.

El Prat is Spain’s busiest airport after Madrid. Passenger traffic rose by more than 60 percent from 2009 to 2016, driven by the arrival of low-cost airlines lured by Barcelona’s attaction as a tourist destination. Under the initial phase of the strike, the security guards will stop work for four hours from Friday to Monday, which would be repeated the following week, according to a strike committee established at Eulen.—AFP