No departing flights and limited arrivals at Brussels Airport on 26 November due to national strike

Brussels Airport will suspend all departing passenger flights on Wednesday, 26 November, as a national strike is expected to severely disrupt airport operations. The airport warns of significant impact on security screening and baggage handling services, with a large portion of staff expected to participate in the industrial action.

“To guarantee the safety of passengers and employees that day, and to avoid excessively long queues, the airport has decided to cancel all departing passenger flights,” spokesperson Jeffrey Franssens said. In total, around 206 departing flights will be scrapped.

While the impact on arriving flights will be less severe, Brussels Airport stresses that cancellations and delays remain possible. The airport currently expects no disruptions from the strike actions planned for 24 and 25 November, which target the national public transport network.

Airlines will reach out directly to affected passengers with rebooking and refund options. The airport urges passengers not to come to the airport on 26 November.

Brussels Airport again criticises the scale of the impact. “This is already the seventh national union action this year, once more hitting the airport and its airlines disproportionately, even though the protest is aimed at federal government measures,” Franssens added.

According to the airport, earlier union actions this year have already affected 275,000 passengers and cost the Belgian economy an estimated €175 million.