Belgium’s three largest labour federations—FGTB-ABVV, CSC-ACV and CGSLB—will launch a rare 72-hour general strike from midnight 24 November through 26 November, paralysing rail, air and urban transport. While the action targets Belgian pension reforms, its epicentre in Brussels and Antwerp threatens to spill over into France’s transport ecosystem.
SNCB will run only ‘minimum service’, and Eurostar expects to operate barely half of its Brussels-Paris trains, with cascading effects on London-Paris rotations that share rolling stock. At Brussels-Zaventem airport, Air France-KLM and easyJet have pre-emptively cancelled flights, and French road hauliers face clogged E19 and A1 corridors as bus drivers join picket lines.
![Belgium’s 72-Hour General Strike Poised to Disrupt France-Bound Rail and Air Traffic]()
French companies with Belgian subsidiaries—or staff commuting from Lille into Wallonia—are activating remote-work contingencies and booking hotel rooms on both sides of the frontier. Travel-risk consultancy TMG estimates each lost travel day on the Paris-Brussels corridor costs multinationals €4 million in deferred deals and overtime.
Strategically, the strike revives a long-running debate on the absence of an EU-wide ‘minimum air-traffic over-flight’ service during national walk-outs—a point championed by carriers stung by repeated French ATC strikes. Mobility managers are urged to map critical projects involving Belgium-based talent and consider routing via Luxembourg or direct Paris-Amsterdam Thalys services that bypass Brussels.
SNCB will run only ‘minimum service’, and Eurostar expects to operate barely half of its Brussels-Paris trains, with cascading effects on London-Paris rotations that share rolling stock. At Brussels-Zaventem airport, Air France-KLM and easyJet have pre-emptively cancelled flights, and French road hauliers face clogged E19 and A1 corridors as bus drivers join picket lines.
French companies with Belgian subsidiaries—or staff commuting from Lille into Wallonia—are activating remote-work contingencies and booking hotel rooms on both sides of the frontier. Travel-risk consultancy TMG estimates each lost travel day on the Paris-Brussels corridor costs multinationals €4 million in deferred deals and overtime.
Strategically, the strike revives a long-running debate on the absence of an EU-wide ‘minimum air-traffic over-flight’ service during national walk-outs—a point championed by carriers stung by repeated French ATC strikes. Mobility managers are urged to map critical projects involving Belgium-based talent and consider routing via Luxembourg or direct Paris-Amsterdam Thalys services that bypass Brussels.
