Business travellers heading to Italy at the end of this week should brace for a difficult Friday. Multiple unions representing airport ground-handling companies and cabin crews have called overlapping strikes for 9 January that will affect almost every major Italian airport.
The most disruptive action will come from ground staff affiliated with Assohandlers, who plan a four-hour national walk-out from 13:00 to 17:00. Because Assohandlers members load and unload baggage, guide aircraft and supply ramp services at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa, Bologna, Turin and a dozen regional gateways, airlines are warning of cascading delays and missed connections. At Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports the situation will be compounded by 24-hour strikes by Swissport Italia and Airport Handling employees, meaning many early-morning and late-evening departures could be cancelled outright.
Low-cost carriers will feel the pinch too. easyJet’s Italy-based pilots and cabin crew have announced a 24-hour stoppage, while Spanish budget airline Vueling will suspend operations from 10:00 to 18:00. The twin airline actions threaten to ground scores of intra-European flights that feed corporate traffic into Italian financial hubs. Travellers booked on affected carriers should already be receiving e-mails offering free rebooking or refunds; experts recommend switching to rail for short-haul domestic connections where possible.
![Nation-wide airport and airline strikes on 9 January set to snarl business travel across Italy]()
Before navigating these disruptions, travellers should also make sure their documentation is in order. VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines the application or renewal of Italian and other Schengen visas, offers real-time entry requirement updates and provides door-to-door courier options—helping companies avoid last-minute hiccups when schedules are already tight.
Although Italian law obliges operators to guarantee a skeleton service during strikes, experience shows that contingency timetables quickly unravel when multiple unions walk out together. Ground-handling bottlenecks often ripple through to immigration queues as arriving passengers wait on the tarmac for steps and buses. Companies with time-sensitive meetings in Milan or Rome on 9 January should consider arriving the evening before, monitor carrier alerts closely and allow extra time to clear security and border formalities on departure.
Looking ahead, January is shaping up to be a difficult month for mobility: rail and metro unions have actions scheduled for 12–15 January and taxi drivers are threatening a 24-hour national strike on the 13th. HR and travel managers are advised to keep duty-of-care channels open and remind staff to update their itineraries in the company’s traveller tracking tool.
The most disruptive action will come from ground staff affiliated with Assohandlers, who plan a four-hour national walk-out from 13:00 to 17:00. Because Assohandlers members load and unload baggage, guide aircraft and supply ramp services at Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa, Bologna, Turin and a dozen regional gateways, airlines are warning of cascading delays and missed connections. At Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports the situation will be compounded by 24-hour strikes by Swissport Italia and Airport Handling employees, meaning many early-morning and late-evening departures could be cancelled outright.
Low-cost carriers will feel the pinch too. easyJet’s Italy-based pilots and cabin crew have announced a 24-hour stoppage, while Spanish budget airline Vueling will suspend operations from 10:00 to 18:00. The twin airline actions threaten to ground scores of intra-European flights that feed corporate traffic into Italian financial hubs. Travellers booked on affected carriers should already be receiving e-mails offering free rebooking or refunds; experts recommend switching to rail for short-haul domestic connections where possible.
Before navigating these disruptions, travellers should also make sure their documentation is in order. VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines the application or renewal of Italian and other Schengen visas, offers real-time entry requirement updates and provides door-to-door courier options—helping companies avoid last-minute hiccups when schedules are already tight.
Although Italian law obliges operators to guarantee a skeleton service during strikes, experience shows that contingency timetables quickly unravel when multiple unions walk out together. Ground-handling bottlenecks often ripple through to immigration queues as arriving passengers wait on the tarmac for steps and buses. Companies with time-sensitive meetings in Milan or Rome on 9 January should consider arriving the evening before, monitor carrier alerts closely and allow extra time to clear security and border formalities on departure.
Looking ahead, January is shaping up to be a difficult month for mobility: rail and metro unions have actions scheduled for 12–15 January and taxi drivers are threatening a 24-hour national strike on the 13th. HR and travel managers are advised to keep duty-of-care channels open and remind staff to update their itineraries in the company’s traveller tracking tool.
