Vueling fined €340,000 for last summer's cancellations and delays

Over 191,000 passengers were left stranded with no information or real assistance back in June and July 2016 in the Balearics alone, where two thirds of the 2,411 scheduled flights were beset with problems leading to their taking off late or not at all.

This is the largest fine as yet ever imposed by consumer authorities in the region in connection with air travel.

It was initially set at €320,000, but was increased by a further €20,000 because the Catalunya-based airline 'repeatedly ignored' requests from government bodies to provide information about why the cancellations and delays occurred.

The sanction was based upon what the consumer branch of the regional health authority considered a 'very serious fault', given that the airline had 'breached contracts signed with 191,000 passengers' and aggravated by the fact that Vueling is a market leader nationally, accounting for 29% of all air traffic within Spain and to and from destinations outside the country.

Vueling now has a month and a half to appeal against the fine.