First flights depart Spain after strike: airport operator

First flights departed Spain on Saturday after the government intervened to stop a wildcat strike by air traffic controllers, airport operator AENA said.

A Swiss International Air Lines flight bound for Zurich took off more than nine hours late from Spain’s second-largest airport, Barcelona El Prat, at 3:51 pm (1451 GMT), according to the AENA web site.

There had been another 15 landings and take-offs from Malaga, Melilla, Gran Canaria, Granada and Pamplona airports in addition to transatlantic landings at Madrid-Barajas, an AENA spokesman said.