An indefinite strike by workers handling carry-on baggage checks at Barcelona's airport is having a more limited impact on passengers after police were deployed to help.

Irish and Spanish aviation authorities have agreed to jointly investigate the diversion to Madrid of a Ryanair flight from Paris to Tenerife following a technical issue.

Ryanair has announced that it will open one new route from Barcelona (El Prat Airport) to Fuerteventura and will increase frequencies on nine other routes to Brussels (Charleroi), Cagliari, Dusseldorf (Weeze), Edinburgh, Gran Canaria, Milan (Bergamo), Paris (Beauvais), Rome (Ciampino) and Venice (Treviso) from November 2010.

SHARES in Ryanair jumped nearly 4.5% yesterday, after the airline reported a pre-tax profit of €341 million and announced a special dividend payment of €500m to shareholders.

Police detained 45 people and 109 were injured as more than 125,000 fans gathered to celebrate Barcelona’s Champions League success against Arsenal.