Brussels Airport has scrapped around 100 departures and arrivals for Friday, 9 October, after ground handling staff walked out as part of a nationwide strike in Belgium. The disruption centres on one handler in particular: roughly half of the flights serviced by Alyzia are expected to operate, with the rest cancelled. About 400 flights will still go ahead.

The airlines most exposed are those using Alyzia — including Brussels Airlines, Emirates and United Airlines. If you're flying British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair, Tui or Wizz Air, you're in luck: they're handled by Aviapartner, whose flights are unaffected by this action.

Brussels Airport has published a list of its airlines with their handlers and contact details, so passengers can work out whether they're caught up in the strike. One catch: cancellations only show on the flight overview once the airline has registered them, so a clean-looking departures board isn't a guarantee.

There's a second union action on Monday, 12 October, though the airport says flights should run normally. Public transport is the bigger risk that day, with delays expected across De Lijn buses, STIB/MIVB Brussels transit and SNCB/NMBS trains — all worth checking before heading to the airport.

The UK Foreign Office has weighed in too, warning that the strike will hit public transport and other services in Brussels, with a demonstration planned in the city centre on the Friday. Its advice: monitor local news, keep in touch with your travel operator, and steer clear of large gatherings — moving away promptly if anything starts to turn disorderly.

This is far from a one-off. Belgium has seen a string of national strikes this year, including on 12 March and 12 May, and Brussels South Charleroi — the city's other airport — saw cancellations last month when its air traffic controllers walked out. If you're booked to fly from Belgium in the coming months, it's worth checking whether further strike dates have been announced before you travel.

For travellers already holding tickets: contact your airline rather than the airport for rebooking, since each carrier manages its own cancellations. Those on unaffected carriers should still build in extra time on strike days, given the transport disruption in and around the capital.

Story via The Independent Travel.