Belgium’s three-day general strike cripples rail and air links, forcing companies to activate contingency plans

Belgium woke up on Saturday, 27 June 2026, to the first of three days of coordinated strike action that is reverberating through every layer of the country’s transport infrastructure and threatening to spill over into the new working week. The walk-out, called jointly by the socialist FGTB-ABVV, Christian CSC-ACV and liberal CGSLB-ACLVB unions, targets the government’s latest austerity and pension-reform proposals. With no legally required minimum-service levels in place, workers across rail, aviation, postal and port services have abandoned their posts en masse. The immediate impact has been felt on the national rail network. Operator SNCB/NMBS says it can operate barely 20 % of its normal timetable; most inter-city services are cancelled and only a skeleton commuter service around Brussels is running. Freight corridors connecting Belgium’s ports to Germany and the Netherlands are log-jammed, forcing manufacturers to reroute containers or delay just-in-time deliveries. Eurostar services through Brussels-Midi are also reduced, creating knock-on delays for travellers to London, Paris and Amsterdam. Belgian airspace is likewise constrained. Ground-handling staff at Brussels-Zaventem and Charleroi have joined picket lines, prompting airlines to pre-emptively cancel dozens of departures. Long-haul carriers including Emirates and United Airlines have postponed evening rotations, while Brussels Airlines has grounded the majority of its short-haul fleet. Cargo operations at Liège Airport – Europe’s fifth-largest in tonnage – are operating at less than half capacity, a particular headache for e-commerce companies who rely on its overnight express slots. Corporate mobility managers are scrambling to implement contingency plans. Multinationals such as AB InBev and Umicore have activated remote-working protocols and rebooked urgent travel via Düsseldorf and Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, while relocation firms report newly-arrived expatriates facing unexpected hotel bills as residence permit appointments are postponed. Immigration lawyers warn that missed biometrics slots at municipal offices could produce cascading delays for work-permit renewals and Blue-Card applications.



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Although the federal government has opened a mediation unit and asked unions to guarantee minimum services for commuters on Monday, labour leaders insist the strike will continue through Sunday night unless the draft pension law is withdrawn. Business-travel stakeholders therefore expect disruption to persist at least until the morning of Monday, 29 June, and urge travellers to monitor operator websites and consider rerouting through neighbouring countries.