Air traffic control strikes days before Christmas set to cause festive travel chaos and delays

-Credit: (Image: Getty)
-Credit: (Image: Getty)


The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport has alerted air passengers of mass nationwide strikes across a 24-hour period by air traffic control staff, from midnight on Sunday, December 15 - just ten days before Christmas.

Employees at Techno Sky, the company responsible for managing the hardware platforms and systems used to deliver air navigation services in Italy, will strike for 24 hours from midnight on that date. Techno Sky's work is vital when it comes to ensuring air safety.

The company has 800 employees, who handle the operational management of 45 airports across Italy, as well as managing 57 telecommunications centres and overseeing 27 crucial radar systems.

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On top of that, between 1pm and 5pm on the same day, air traffic controllers at Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate and Bergamo Orio al Serio are set to walk out for four hours between 1pm and 5pm local time, adding to the festive travel chaos. This is because FILT-CGIL and UILT-UIL, two of Italy’s largest transport unions, are supporting the strikes.

It's also likely that the impact from the strikes will spread beyond Italy, as the disruption may have a knock-on effect across the entire flight network.

Discussing the industrial action, AirAdvisor CEO Anton Radchenko, who helps passengers claim compensation from disrupted air journeys, explains: “Nationwide air traffic control strikes can have an extremely damaging effect on a country’s ability to effectively manage arrivals and departures at airports. They can end up causing mass delays and cancellations impacting numerous countries and airlines.

“In April this year, Ryanair was forced to cancel 300 flights across Europe flights as a result of French air traffic controllers striking, affecting 50,000 passengers. It’s entirely possible that this action in Italy could have a similar effect.

“British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2 and Wizz Air all fly to Italy from the UK and if you’re due to travel to the country on December 15, prepare for delays and cancellations.

"As we saw with the French air traffic control strikes in April, it’s not just flights in the country where industrial action is taking place that can be affected - strikes like these can have a real domino effect. They could end up causing travel misery for pre-Christmas travellers.

“In 2023, an estimated 16,000 flights were cancelled with 85,000 delayed as a result of air traffic control strikes in Europe. Because of this, when air traffic control strikes are imminent, we advise passengers to download their airline's app and sign up for email or SMS alerts to stay informed about how the strikes could affect their travel plans.

An Easyjet Airbus A319-111 aircraft lands at El Prat airport in Barcelona on July 1, 2022.
Flights may be disrupted during the walk-outs. -Credit:Getty

“If you’re at the airport and your flight is delayed or cancelled, ask your airline’s staff what caused the delay or cancellation and note down their answer. This will serve as supporting documentation if you choose to file a claim for compensation.

“Under current EU Regulation 261, passengers affected by delays and cancellations may be due up to £520 in compensation for the inconvenience caused to their travel plans. We suggest using a compensation calculator to establish what you might be owed, and doing this as quickly as possible.”

Similar strikes took place in October, which affected easyJet flights to Milan, Naples and Venice - all extremely popular destinations for holidaymakers trying to escape the colder weather and darker evenings in Scotland.

Wider issues affected easyJet flights on that day due to a "domino" effect, which saw other easyJet services from Edinburgh Airport across the weekend falling foul to delays and cancellations - due to the airlines’ resources being stretched.

And in August, easyJet cancelled 232 flights to and from Portugal as a result of a three-day strike by cabin crew in the country, representing around a sixth of flights it had been scheduled to operate.

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