Spontaneous Skeyes strike disrupts flights across Belgium

A spontaneous strike by air traffic controllers at Belgium’s air navigation service provider Skeyes disrupted flight operations across the country during the early hours of Tuesday morning, June 2nd, causing delays, diversions and cancellations at several airports.

According to Skeyes, staff members walked off the job between 02:30 and 07:00 local time in protest over arrangements concerning the organisation’s new digital control centre in Namur. Trade unions have expressed dissatisfaction with the agreements reached regarding the project.

At Brussels Airport, no passenger flights were cancelled as a direct result of the strike, airport spokesperson Quentin Mertens confirmed. However, the disruption affected flight schedules, with around 25 departures expected to leave later than planned. Two inbound flights were also diverted to other airports.

“The exact extent of the delays remains unclear at this stage,” Mertens said. Cargo operations at Brussels Airport were also impacted, although airport officials said it was difficult to quantify the disruption.

Liège Airport reported that approximately 20 flights were affected by the industrial action. Airport spokesperson Christian Delcourt confirmed operational disruptions, although details regarding specific delays or schedule changes were not immediately available.

At Charleroi Airport, passengers faced both delays and cancellations as a result of the temporary suspension of air traffic control services.

The strike ended at 07:00, allowing normal air traffic services to gradually resume. However, knock-on effects were expected to continue throughout the morning as airlines and airports worked to recover their schedules.

Skeyes has not yet provided further details on the labour dispute or whether additional industrial action could follow.