Belgium’s busiest gateway, Brussels Airport (BRU), confirmed on 25 November that 110 of the 203 passenger flights scheduled to arrive on Wednesday 26 November have been pre-emptively cancelled as security screeners and ground-handling crews walk off the job in a three-day national strike. The airport had already wiped its entire slate of 206 departures, effectively grounding normal operations for the second time in two months.
The industrial action is coordinated by Belgium’s three main trade-union confederations and targets the government’s draft austerity budget, which would raise the statutory retirement age and curb index-linked wage rises. Airport unions say the plan “erodes hard-won benefits” and have promised rolling walkouts unless the proposal is withdrawn. Similar protests in October forced airlines to scrap more than 400 movements and led to knock-on delays across Europe.
![Brussels Airport cancels 110 inbound flights as nationwide strike bites]()
For business travellers the implications are immediate. Airlines must reroute or rebook thousands of passengers at short notice, and availability via neighbouring hubs such as Amsterdam, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle and Frankfurt is already tight. Import cargo is also hit; forwarders report that time-critical life-science shipments will be diverted to Liège or Luxembourg and trucked into Belgium.
The airport operator stresses that the remaining 93 arrivals should still land, but warns that border-control queues and baggage delivery may be slower than usual because only minimum-service staffing agreements are in place. Travellers with Belgian residence permits are urged to carry physical proof of status in case automated e-gates are closed and manual checks take longer.
Looking ahead, unions have scheduled a “general manifestation” for 26 November that could shut the facility completely. Companies with posted workers or expatriate assignees due to rotate this week should activate contingency plans, arrange remote attendance for meetings, and brief travellers on alternate routings via rail or road from neighbouring countries.
The industrial action is coordinated by Belgium’s three main trade-union confederations and targets the government’s draft austerity budget, which would raise the statutory retirement age and curb index-linked wage rises. Airport unions say the plan “erodes hard-won benefits” and have promised rolling walkouts unless the proposal is withdrawn. Similar protests in October forced airlines to scrap more than 400 movements and led to knock-on delays across Europe.
For business travellers the implications are immediate. Airlines must reroute or rebook thousands of passengers at short notice, and availability via neighbouring hubs such as Amsterdam, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle and Frankfurt is already tight. Import cargo is also hit; forwarders report that time-critical life-science shipments will be diverted to Liège or Luxembourg and trucked into Belgium.
The airport operator stresses that the remaining 93 arrivals should still land, but warns that border-control queues and baggage delivery may be slower than usual because only minimum-service staffing agreements are in place. Travellers with Belgian residence permits are urged to carry physical proof of status in case automated e-gates are closed and manual checks take longer.
Looking ahead, unions have scheduled a “general manifestation” for 26 November that could shut the facility completely. Companies with posted workers or expatriate assignees due to rotate this week should activate contingency plans, arrange remote attendance for meetings, and brief travellers on alternate routings via rail or road from neighbouring countries.
