Charleroi airport hit by nightly air traffic control strikes

Air traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport are staging nightly industrial action, and roughly 40 flights a day are being dropped as a result, according to initial operational figures.

The stoppages began on 16 September and are due to run between 22:00 and 08:00 every night until 10 October. No air traffic control service is available in those windows, so aircraft cannot depart from or arrive at the airport.

How many flights are lost varies with each day's schedule and with what airlines choose to do. Some flights can be moved earlier or pushed back until after 08:00, and some can be shifted to a different airport. Plenty of evening arrivals and early-morning departures cannot be saved and are cancelled.

Roughly 40 flights were cancelled on one of the first full days of disruption, the figures indicate. Skeyes has said that if the action runs for the whole announced period, more than 800 flights could be affected. That works out at an average of about 30 to 40 flights a day, though the toll is expected to be heavier on the airport's busiest days.

Ryanair, the largest carrier at Charleroi, is taking a large share of the hit. Its evening flights from a number of European cities have been cancelled, as have the return legs and early-morning departures tied to them. Other airlines scheduled to operate during the nightly closures may also have to change their timetables.

The dispute centres on night-work arrangements and allowances for air traffic controllers.