Milan Airports: Flights to be cancelled at Malpensa and Linate Airports amid strike action - future walkouts planned at Rome Fiumicino, Pisa and Florence
Nationwide strikes are likely to affect travel plans in Italy at the start of the weekend.
Walkouts have been called by the CUB Trasporti and USB unions– two of Italy’s biggest rank-and-file unions – in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The 24-hour strike taking place today (Friday 26 September) will involve airline crews as well as airport staff.
Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports are set to be among the worst affected. Ground operations will also be hit. Baggage handlers employed by Assohandlers are walking out from 10 am to 2 pm, while drivers at Milan’s airports are striking for the full day.
Security staff at Sardinia’s Cagliari Elmas Airport are also joining the action all day. Meanwhile, pilots and cabin crew from low-cost carriers Volotea and Wizz Air Malta are also going on strike for 24 hours, citing low pay and poor working conditions.
The worker action doesn’t mean that every flight will be cancelled, however. Italy’s civil aviation authority ENAC says flights scheduled between 7 am and 10 am and 6 pm and 9 pm must still operate during strikes.
Details of guaranteed services on 26 September are listed on ENAC’s website. Outside of those windows, cancellations and delays are likely.
Travellers are advised to check directly with their airline before leaving for the airport and allow extra time for their journeys. Friday’s strike is just the beginning of travel chaos.
A 24-hour nationwide rail strike is planned from 9 pm on 2 October until 9 pm on 3 October. A week and a half later, airport staff will stage further walkouts at Rome Fiumicino, Pisa and Florence on 13 October, while Swissport Italia ground handlers at Milan Linate are due to strike again on 29 October.