Air traffic to and from Belgium will come to a standstill from 14:15 on Tuesday due to a labour action at Skeyes, the air traffic control company said. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled.
A spontaneous strike by air traffic controllers overnight from Monday to Tuesday led to 30 passenger flight cancellations at Charleroi Airport and affected about 40 cargo flights at Liege Airport.
The workers are protesting the conditions under which the future digital control tower in Namur will be put into service, which is set to centralise the operations of the control towers at Liège and Charleroi airports starting in 2027.
Further action will continue to disrupt flights in the country today. Air traffic is expected to be suspended until 21:00, however, this may change, according to Skeyes spokesperson Audrey Dorigo.
"Despite the removal of the item regarding the digital control tower from the joint committee’s agenda, air traffic controllers have decided to provide only minimum service, which includes state flights, medical flights, and Search & Rescue flights,” explained Dorigo.
At Brussels Airport, all flights are cancelled from 14:00 to 21:00, the airport states on its website, asking travellers not to go to the airport if their flight is scheduled during those hours. Around 200 flights have been cancelled.
“We are currently analysing the situation and assessing the impact," Brussels Airport spokesperson Quentin Mertens told Belga.
This is a developing news story and will be updated as more information comes in.
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