If you’re supposed to be flying back from a long weekend in Belgium next Monday, it looks like you’ll have to change your plans. Brussels Airport and Charleroi Airport in Belgium have cancelled flights on March 31 due to a major national strike. Brussels Airport has cancelled all of its departing flights and said that arriving flights could also be impacted while Charleroi has cancelled all of its flights for the 24-hour-strike on Monday.
This is set to a have a significant impact on UK travellers as there are many flights that go between Belgium and the UK every day. Multiple UK airports offer flights to Brussels, including London Heathrow, London City, London Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Birmingham, Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast.
Monday’s strike is expected to impact several hundreds of flights, including the 21 airlines that fly between the UK and Belgium.
Some of the airports that fly to Charleroi also include London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, London City Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, Leeds, and Bradford.
The strike is the second taking place following that of February 13 over the Federal Government’s labour market reforms.
Brussels Airport said in a statement on their website: “Due to a national strike on Monday 31 March and the announced strike of a large number of the security staff and the personnel of the handlers, we expect major disruptions to airport operations on that day.
“To ensure the safety of passengers and staff, we have decided, in consultation with the airlines, not to operate any departing passenger flights on 31 March.
“The airlines will contact passengers whose flight has been impacted. We ask not to come to the airport on that day.
“As departing passenger flights are cancelled, cancellations are also possible on arriving flights. We advise all passengers to check the status of their flight with their airline or on our website or the app.
“The flight overview on our website will show cancellations only once they are registered by the airline. We regret any inconvenience caused by this union action.”