Flag carrier Brussels Airlines said it will ground about 180 of its 200 scheduled flights on 26 November after Brussels Airport confirmed it cannot provide security screening or ramp services during the national strike. The Lufthansa-owned airline called the repeated industrial disputes “unsustainable”, noting that this will be the seventh time in 2025 that union action unrelated to the carrier’s own staff has forced mass cancellations.
The six previous shutdowns this year stranded more than 100,000 passengers and cost the airline an estimated €14 million in lost revenue, re-accommodation and welfare expenses. Management said that, even with insurance, the cumulative financial impact is eroding margins needed to finance its Airbus A320-neo fleet renewal and recruit additional pilots for its growing inter-continental programme.
![Brussels Airlines cancels 90 % of schedule and warns of €14 million hit from latest strike]()
Corporate-travel buyers have voiced frustration that they cannot rely on Brussels as a stable hub. “We’ve moved two regional sales conferences to Amsterdam this year because of strike volatility,” said the EMEA mobility lead of a U.S. medical-devices group. Brussels Airlines fears further reputational damage just as it prepares to relaunch a Boston service in March 2026.
The carrier emphasised that none of its own employees are striking and urged the government and unions to “find solutions that do not repeatedly paralyse the country’s second-largest economic engine”. It has offered rebooking or refunds but warned that seats via neighbouring hubs are already scarce. Travellers holding connecting itineraries should double-check whether feeders from European out-stations will operate; many will receive an involuntary reroute via Frankfurt or Munich.
For mobility managers the key takeaway is to build extra slack into itineraries, verify that time-sensitive documents (e.g., work-permit originals) are couriered rather than hand-carried next week, and remind expatriates that EU261 compensation does not apply when cancellations are caused by airport-service strikes outside the airline’s control.
The six previous shutdowns this year stranded more than 100,000 passengers and cost the airline an estimated €14 million in lost revenue, re-accommodation and welfare expenses. Management said that, even with insurance, the cumulative financial impact is eroding margins needed to finance its Airbus A320-neo fleet renewal and recruit additional pilots for its growing inter-continental programme.
Corporate-travel buyers have voiced frustration that they cannot rely on Brussels as a stable hub. “We’ve moved two regional sales conferences to Amsterdam this year because of strike volatility,” said the EMEA mobility lead of a U.S. medical-devices group. Brussels Airlines fears further reputational damage just as it prepares to relaunch a Boston service in March 2026.
The carrier emphasised that none of its own employees are striking and urged the government and unions to “find solutions that do not repeatedly paralyse the country’s second-largest economic engine”. It has offered rebooking or refunds but warned that seats via neighbouring hubs are already scarce. Travellers holding connecting itineraries should double-check whether feeders from European out-stations will operate; many will receive an involuntary reroute via Frankfurt or Munich.
For mobility managers the key takeaway is to build extra slack into itineraries, verify that time-sensitive documents (e.g., work-permit originals) are couriered rather than hand-carried next week, and remind expatriates that EU261 compensation does not apply when cancellations are caused by airport-service strikes outside the airline’s control.
