Air traffic resumed in Brussels at 07:00 on Tuesday after being suspended for part of the night due to a spontaneous strike by air traffic controllers, Skeyes, the public company responsible for air traffic control, told Belga.
Operations at Liège, Charleroi and Ostend airports were not expected to resume until 09:30.
Brussels Airport confirmed that air traffic had restarted. Around 25 departing flights were delayed by between one and two hours, according to a spokesperson. In addition, two flights bound for Brussels Airport had to be diverted to other airports.
The spontaneous strike also disrupted air cargo traffic, although the full extent of the impact was not yet clear.
Several employees working in the control towers at Liège and Charleroi airports stopped traffic management operations overnight following negotiations on an agreement with trade unions concerning the future digital control centre in Namur. The action was subsequently followed by staff in other Skeyes air traffic control entities.
The action forced the air traffic manager to suspend air traffic during the night.
The Namur digital control centre is due to become operational in the coming months and will manage aircraft take-offs and landings, as well as all ground movements, at Charleroi and Liège airports.
