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Belgium Grounds Departures at Major Airports as National Strike Halts Travel

Unions are stopping services to protest planned austerity measures.

Overview

  • Brussels Airport cancelled all departing flights for Tuesday, and spokesperson Jeffrey Franssens said 115 of 238 scheduled arrivals were also scrapped.
  • Brussels South Charleroi Airport, a key Ryanair base, said it cannot operate scheduled arrivals or departures due to a lack of staff.
  • Security workers downed tools at Brussels Airport as the nationwide action disrupted metro, tram, and bus services across the country.
  • Eurostar had not cancelled Brussels services at the time of reporting but urged passengers to check their journeys.
  • Airlines are offering refunds or rebooking, while strike-related cancellations are generally classed as extraordinary circumstances, making compensation unlikely; reported estimates of affected passengers range from about 48,000 in total to roughly 13,000 linked to UK flights.