Strike hits Senegal's week-old airport /Passengers stranded at Senegal's new airport

  Strike hits Senegal's week-old airport

Alex Duval Smith

BBC Africa, Dakar

Flights to and from West Africa are being disrupted by a strike by Senegalese air traffic controllers.
The stoppage at Dakar's international airport comes only a week after the airport opened.
Hundreds of passengers have already been affected by the strike, which began at midnight GMT.
Trade union leader Paul Francois Gomis told the BBC that air traffic controllers were unhappy with working conditions.
He said civil aviation officials had ignored their requests for compensation to cover the long travel times to the new airport, which is 50 km (30 miles) from the capital, Dakar.
The union leader said the 60 air traffic controllers had not been trained in the use of the equipment in the new control tower.
The Portuguese airline TAP confirmed that its flights have been cancelled to and from Dakar. Other airlines are re-routing their flights to Banjul in The Gambia.
Blaise Diagne International Airport cost more than $600m (£450m) to build and opened a week ago, replacing an ageing facility.
The air traffic controllers say their strike will last for 24 hours.

Passengers stranded at Senegal's new airport

BBC

Spokesperson for air traffic control say they have not been trained to use the new generation equipment

Passengers are still grounded at the newly opened Dakar's international airport following a strike action by Senegalese air traffic controllers.Some of the passengers have expressed their frustration particularly over the non availability of information, BBC Alex Duval Smith reports.
"We would like to know when the strike will end, then we can decide what to do next" Sane Op Debeeke, a passenger waiting for a flight to Brussels complained.

BBC

Ms Debeeke would like to know when the strike will end so she can go home to Brussels. She says her parents are worried

The spokesperson for air traffic control told the BBC that informal talks are ongoing and a solution is being sought before midnight.