1 October strike: no flights from Brussels or Charleroi

No flights will depart from Brussels or Charleroi airports on 1 October due to a nationwide strike intended to draw attention to poor working conditions in the security, cleaning and catering sectors.

Unions are striking because they want respect, decent working conditions and fair wages for catering staff, cleaners and security guards. They also want public tenders to be adjusted so that social criteria would also apply and the extent of subcontracting be limited.

“In order to guarantee the safety of passengers and staff, the airlines, in agreement with Brussels Airport, will not operate departing passenger flights on 1 October,” the airport said.

An impact is also expected on arriving flights, with an estimated 50,000 passengers in total affected. These passengers will be notified by their airline.

Brussels Airport advises against visiting the airport at all that day, noting that while arriving flights may land, there are likely to be cancellations.

Those who do still have a flight that day are advised to be at the airport three hours in advance and only travel with hand luggage, as baggage handling cannot be guaranteed.

“The airport advises all passengers normally landing on 1 October to check the latest information about their flight with their airline or via the Brussels Airport website,” the airport added.

Impact on cargo flights is expected to be limited.

The action will also affect other airports, including Charleroi, which has cancelled all outbound flights on 1 October.

The airport had initially reduced capacity by 30% but has now scrapped all departures because "the lack of security personnel will be too great to ensure operations", an airport spokeswoman said.

About 100 flights from Charleroi are impacted, with an estimated 15,000 passengers affected.

The 1 October strike is being held on the same day that Brussels Airport starts test flights intended to assess different measures for reducing noise pollution.

These tests are being conducted in collaboration with Skeyes, the Belgian air traffic control authority.

The aim is to assess whether landings with a steeper approach than usual can offer advantages in terms of noise pollution for local residents, reduced CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

“By starting to land at a steeper angle, aircraft will remain at a higher altitude for longer and will also fly at a reduced speed, resulting in a lower noise impact for local residents,” explained Skeyes.

The airlines taking part in these demonstration flights include DHL, Brussels Airlines, TUI and Vueling. Other carriers will continue to use the standard procedure.

The project is being carried out as part of the HERON (Highly Efficient Green Operations) international consortium, led by Airbus with the objective to carry out a series of ambitious developments and demonstrations to reduce noise, flight delays, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in air transport by proposing reduction measures, including more efficient flight operations.

The initiative brings together 26 partners from 11 countries and is supported by six airlines, eight air navigation service providers and five airports across Europe.