Belgium’s busiest cargo gateway is heading for confrontation after the socialist union FGTB denounced the dismissal of three employees—one of them a union representative—at Liège Airport. Management communicated the layoffs in early January citing reduced event-sector activity, but the union calls the justification “implausible” given the airport’s record 2025 financial results.
In a statement on 21 January, FGTB accused airport leadership of eroding social dialogue since taking office in 2021 and warned that the firings could be the “tip of the iceberg” in a wider cost-cutting drive. The union has scheduled a demonstration outside the passenger terminal at 13:00 on 10 February, a date that coincides with a province-wide strike against federal austerity measures.
![Labour tensions rise at Liège Airport after redundancies spark union protest]()
Liège Airport handles more than one million tonnes of freight annually and serves as a European hub for carriers such as ASL Airlines and Qatar Cargo. Any labour-related disruption could ripple through pharmaceutical, e-commerce and perishables supply chains that depend on its 24/7 operations and generous night-flight quotas.
Airport spokespersons insist day-to-day activities remain unaffected and note that the Liège Airport Academy offers retraining opportunities. However, industry observers point out that smaller staffing-level disputes have escalated rapidly in Belgium’s transport sector over the past year, leading to surprise work-stoppages that caught logistics planners off guard.
Global mobility managers moving time-critical cargo or arranging crew rotations through Liège are advised to build contingency buffers around the early-February protest and to monitor union announcements closely for signs of escalated action such as work-to-rule or strike ballots.
In a statement on 21 January, FGTB accused airport leadership of eroding social dialogue since taking office in 2021 and warned that the firings could be the “tip of the iceberg” in a wider cost-cutting drive. The union has scheduled a demonstration outside the passenger terminal at 13:00 on 10 February, a date that coincides with a province-wide strike against federal austerity measures.
Liège Airport handles more than one million tonnes of freight annually and serves as a European hub for carriers such as ASL Airlines and Qatar Cargo. Any labour-related disruption could ripple through pharmaceutical, e-commerce and perishables supply chains that depend on its 24/7 operations and generous night-flight quotas.
Airport spokespersons insist day-to-day activities remain unaffected and note that the Liège Airport Academy offers retraining opportunities. However, industry observers point out that smaller staffing-level disputes have escalated rapidly in Belgium’s transport sector over the past year, leading to surprise work-stoppages that caught logistics planners off guard.
Global mobility managers moving time-critical cargo or arranging crew rotations through Liège are advised to build contingency buffers around the early-February protest and to monitor union announcements closely for signs of escalated action such as work-to-rule or strike ballots.
Source: The Brussels Times
