Brussels Airport and Charleroi Airport have cancelled all flights on Monday, March 31, due to a national strike in Belgium. Here’s everything you need to know about the travel chaos
Hundreds of flights to and from Belgian airports have been cancelled today.
The disruption is largely centered on Brussels Airport and Brussels Charleroi Airport due to strike action across the country. The knock-on impact across the Continent is significant, with Brussels Airlines cancelling 30% of its services today to destinations in Spain, France and several other countries.
Industrial action by workers at Brussels Airport and Brussels Charleroi Airport has forced airlines to cancel hundreds of flights from the Belgian capital’s key air travel hubs. Analysis of live fight tracking data from FlightAware by AirAdvisor suggests that as of 8am UK BST on Tuesday 29 April, 105 flights with Brussels Airport as their origin or destination have been cancelled. Brussels Airport is Belgium’s largest airport and key international hub.
A further 113 due to depart from or arrive at Brussels Charleroi have been cancelled. This comes after Charleroi Airport, which usually connects travellers with Manchester and Edinburgh airports announced that it would cancel all departing flights today due to there not being enough staff “to run operations in complete safety”, according to a statement on its website.
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AirAdvisor warned that the “issue between unions and the government doesn’t look like being resolved any time soon.” The company’s CEO, Anton Radchenko, said: “On 10 February, Brussels Airport was forced to ground all departures scheduled on the day due to strikes. Another round of industrial action took place on 31 March, cancelling hundreds of flights set to depart the country. Early indications suggest that this latest round of industrial action is having a similar effect on Belgium’s travel infrastructure and it doesn’t look like the issue is going to be resolved any time soon.”
The action is being led by the General Labor Federation of Belgium and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions, which represent handling and security staff at both airports. The unions are protesting against government policies that they believe will force people to work more hours for worse pensions and stagnating wages.
Anton continues: “If you were due to travel to or from Belgium today and your flight has been cancelled you have a number of options. Firstly, reach out to your airline and seek a replacement flight to your intended destination, which they are obliged to provide you with. This could be with a different airline from or from another airport – or both.
“If you have decided that you want to cancel your trip, you are entitled to a refund equivalent to the value of the price of your ticket. It’s very likely that today’s events will have a domino-effect on flights tomorrow and potentially the day after too, as both airports may not be able to double daily capacity to accommodate postponed flights from today.
“If you’re due to travel later in the week, you may wish to re-book for a few more days’ ahead when the situation should have resolved itself.”
