Europe-wide air delays and cancellations likely 10 days before Christmas due to new wave of strikes

The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has alerted air passengers of mass nationwide strikes by air traffic control staff, on Sunday December 15th, which an expert is warning could lead to air travel delays and cancellations across Europe.

From midnight on December 15, employees at Techno Sky the company responsible for managing the hardware platforms and systems used to deliver air navigation services in Italy, will strike for 24 hours. The company has 800 employees, who handle the operational management of 45 airports across Italy.

Between 1pm and 5pm on the same day, air traffic controllers at Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate and Bergamo Orio al Serio are set to walk out for four hours between 1pm and 5pm local time. FILT-CGIL and UILT-UIL, two of Italy’s largest transport unions are supporting the strikes. In 2023, an estimated 16,000 flights were cancelled with 85,000 delayed as a result of air traffic control strikes in Europe.

Discussing the industrial action AirAdvisor CEO, Anton Radchenko, who helps passengers claim compensation from disrupted air journeys explains: “Nationwide air traffic control strikes can have an extremely damaging effect on a country’s ability to effectively manage arrivals and departures at airports. They can end up causing mass delays and cancellations impacting numerous countries and airlines.

“In April this year, Ryanair was forced to cancel 300 flights across Europe flights as a result of French air traffic controllers striking, affecting 50,000 passengers. It’s entirely possible that this action in Italy could have a similar effect.

“As we saw with the French air traffic control strikes in April, it’s not just flights in the country where industrial action is taking place that can be affected - strikes like these can have a real domino effect on services across whole continents.

“In 2023, an estimated 16,000 flights were cancelled with 85,000 delayed as a result of air traffic control strikes in Europe. Because of this, when air traffic control strikes are imminent, we advise passengers to download their airline's app and sign up for email or SMS alerts to stay informed about how the strikes could affect their travel plans.

“If you’re at the airport and your flight is delayed or cancelled, ask your airline’s staff what caused the delay or cancellation and note down their answer. This will serve as supporting documentation if you choose to file a claim for compensation.

“Under current EU Regulation 261, passengers affected by delays and cancellations may be due up to £520 in compensation for the inconvenience caused to their travel plans. We suggest using a compensation calculator to establish what you might be owed, and doing this as quickly as possible.”

Use AirAdvisor's compensation calculator here: https://airadvisor.com/en/flight-delay-compensation-calculator