All the European airport strikes happening right now, from Portugal to Italy

A guide to all the strikes happening in travel in September and October, and how they might affect your holiday (Picture: Shutterstock / proslgn)

Got a European getaway booked for the next few weeks? You’d be forgiven for feeling a bit nervous.

That’s because a slate of airport strikes have been announced across the continent, affecting holiday hotspots like Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium.

Air traffic controllers have been striking across several countries since September 16, protesting everything from night-shift bonuses to working conditions and staff shortages.

This has led to extended shifts for staff who have continued to work, while passengers endure chaotic scenes and long airport queues.

As it stands, there’s no end in sight, and air traffic control unions have warned that the disruption could continue until October 10… and beyond.

Here, Metro has rounded up all the strikes happening across Europe right now, so travellers can make alternate plans if needed.

Italy

On September 30, 33 airports across mainland Italy and its islands could be affected due to aviation strikes.

Rome’s two airports have been named in the strikes (Picture: Getty Images)

Workers from ENAC, the French civil aviation university, Techno Sky, an Italian aviation consultant, and ENAV, Italy’s national air traffic control provider, are staging a national and interregional strike over a labour dispute.

Air traffic control staff are due to stop work from 1pm to 5 pm in protest against low wages and working conditions.

Spain

Since March, ground handling staff at Groundforce (a Spanish handling, cargo and GSE equipment services operator) have been striking over breaches of basic labour rights.

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, workers strike three times between 5am and 7am, 11am and 5pm, and 10pm and midnight.

The indefinite strikes briefly stopped on April 8, but have since resumed at different airports across the country.

Barcelona’s main airport resumed its strikes in early August (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

For example, Barcelona-El Prat Airport reactivated its strike on August 4 ‘due to the lack of solutions and in a context marked by the dismissal of two representatives of the staff,’ according to the union in a statement.

The union added that the ‘deterioration of working conditions and occupational health and safety’ continues to be a problem.

For passengers, these strikes mainly affect check-in, boarding, and luggage handling.

France

Pilots and cabin crew unions in France have called a nationwide five-day strike to coincide with the start of the Toussaint school holidays in October.

This break runs from October 16 to November 2, so if you have a flight booked during that period, you should check with your airline before travelling.

The dispute concerns France’s planned reform of the cumul emploi-retraite system, which allows people to continue working while receiving a retirement pension, The Local reports.

Airlines are expected to provide information about cancellations, delays or schedule changes if they are affected by the strike.

Portugal

188 easyJet cabin crew voted in favour of two five-day strikes, between October 2 and 6 and December 19 and 23, according to a spokesperson for the SNPVAC union.

The dispute over poor working conditions is set to ground around 500 scheduled flights across Lisbon, Porto and Faro, many of which will affect Christmas plans.

From the UK, easyJet operates flights to Portugal from major airports like Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton, Southend, Manchester and Newcastle.

A spokesperson for the Portuguese crew union said working conditions ‘continued to deteriorate despite warnings from the union that the airline had failed to address.’

Issues include pressure to work overtime to cover staff shortages, unstable rosters, operational planning failures, alleged collective labour agreement breaches, and unequal treatment of pilots and cabin crew.

Portugal’s capital Lisbon has seen strike action, too (Picture: Shutterstock / Dmitry Rukhlenko)

An easyJet spokesperson responded to the strikes, saying: ‘We are extremely disappointed that SNPVAC is planning strike actions despite our willingness to continue a constructive dialogue.

‘The current union demands are unworkable especially given that our crew are already paid significantly above the Portuguese national average.’

Still, the spokesperson said the airline is doing everything it can to ‘minimise the impact of the strike on our customers, including actioning some cancellations in advance to allow our customers to rearrange their travel plans.’

Belgium

Air traffic controllers at Brussels’ Charleroi Airport (BSCA) announced strikes from Wednesday, September 16, every night between 10pm and 8am.

Travellers heading to Belgium might need to make different arrangements (Picture: Shutterstock / NGCHIYUI)

The industrial action is expected to continue until Saturday, October 10.

Yesterday, it was reported that around 34 flights would be cancelled at the Brussels airport, with a further 21 flights set to be rescheduled.

However, these numbers are actually much higher. The Sun reported that, since the strikes began, 160 flights have been cancelled.

In the midst of the chaos, the airport released a statement telling travellers it was ‘monitoring the situation very closely and sharing verified general information through our official channels.’

The disruption is due to employees at Skeyes — the company responsible for air traffic control in Belgium — arguing over night shift bonuses.

The airport later added it has ‘no influence over [the strike’s] progress or outcome.’ But, that they ‘hope a solution will be found very quickly, in the interest of all travellers.’

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