A strike by security guards on Monday led to the precautionary cancellation of all flights departing from Brussels-Zaventem airport, the busiest in Belgium, against a backdrop of national mobilization of unions for wages. “All departing flights are canceled this June 20 (…) We urge all passengers not to come to the airport on Monday“Wrote the airport operator, Brussels Airport, on its Twitter account. A total of 232 flights have been canceled, with the exception of a few transfer flights, affecting some 30,000 departing passengers, according to an airport spokeswoman.
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Incoming commercial flights are also affected with one in four flights operated. On the other hand, all freight traffic is maintained. “I haven’t seen my wife for 4 months because I was working. I was supposed to meet her this morning in Istanbul. Maybe I’ll spend a few days in a hotel“, told AFP Oleksandr Zayikin, a Ukrainian working for the merchant navy, in the hall of the airport where a few hundred passengers were looking for solutions to find a place of accommodation or a new flight.
Passengers are encouraged to contact their airline to reschedule their trip. Part of the passenger traffic of the German tour operator TUI departing from Brussels airport has been redirected to other Belgian regional airports. The three major trade union centers in Belgium – FGTB (socialist), CSC (Christian) and CGSLB (liberal) – called for a national day of action for Monday to defend wages and purchasing power.
In this context, part of the staff of the security company G4S operating in Zaventem decided to strike, which had already led Brussels Airport to advise against departures from this airport on June 20 last Wednesday. A large trade union demonstration was planned for the end of the morning in the center of Brussels, where the organizers said they expected up to 70,000 people. Other protest movements by aviation personnel, notably at Ryanair and Brussels Airlines, should greatly disrupt this sector in Belgium for several days from Thursday.