Business travellers transiting through Belgium on Sunday, 4 October 2026 can breathe a sigh of relief: no transport strikes are taking place anywhere in the country. According to the specialist monitoring platform Strike Tracker, all planned industrial action affecting airports, rail, metro, bus and tram services has been called off for the day, following the suspension of a high-profile series of night-time stoppages by skeyes air-traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport. The Charleroi dispute began on 16 September, when controllers launched 24 consecutive nights of action in protest over the absence of a specific night-work allowance. The walk-outs caused more than 320 flight cancellations—mostly on Ryanair’s late-evening arrivals and early-morning departures—and forced scores of aircraft to reposition to other airports. After Federal Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke brokered a mediation proposal, unions agreed on 23 September to suspend their strike until 10 October while talks continue. Since then, night operations have proceeded normally, and today marks the twelfth consecutive night without disruption. From a corporate-mobility perspective the truce is significant. Charleroi is Ryanair’s second-largest continental base and a key low-cost hub for IT contractors, project engineers and service technicians commuting between Belgium and Central- & Eastern-European markets. With the strike on hold, organisations can once again schedule red-eye departures and post-10 p.m. arrivals without having to bus staff to Brussels-Zaventem or Lille. Travel managers should nevertheless maintain contingency plans: the strike notice has been paused, not withdrawn, and unions have warned they could resume action if negotiations stall. Looking ahead, Strike Tracker flags only one mobility-relevant event in the immediate calendar: a national union demonstration in Brussels on Friday, 9 October, which could cause delays on STIB, De Lijn and TEC networks. Companies with end-of-week assignee rotations may wish to bring transfers forward to Thursday evening or book flexible tickets. In the meantime, today’s clean slate underscores a broader point: despite a fractious industrial climate this autumn, Belgium’s transport system can still deliver reliable connectivity when social partners return to the table. Firms currently onboarding expatriates or relocating project teams can therefore proceed with planned arrivals this week, albeit with an eye on the mediation timetable at Charleroi.
Source: Strike Tracker
