Belgium’s second-largest airport, Brussels South Charleroi (CRL), received a welcome reprieve this week after skeyes air-traffic controllers agreed to suspend their rolling night-time strike for mediation talks. According to Strike Tracker’s 5 October update, industrial action that had shut the control tower every night from 22:00 to 08:00 since mid-September is now on hold until at least 10 October. The stoppages forced carriers such as Ryanair, Wizz Air and TUI fly to cancel or reschedule dozens of late-evening departures, complicating hub-and-spoke connections via Brussels and leaving travel managers scrambling for alternatives. Several corporates had shifted traffic to Brussels Zaventem or to Lille in France to avoid crew-duty infringements. Suspension gives airlines a narrow window to normalise schedules ahead of the busy autumn conference season. Aviation analysts estimate the walk-outs cost the airport authority upwards of €1 million in lost revenue, while accommodation and re-routing expenses mounted for carriers. The dispute centres on staffing levels and rostering flexibility following the full implementation of the EU Entry/Exit System, which air-traffic unions say increases workload during passport-control peak waves. If mediation fails, unions could reinstate the strike with just 48 hours’ notice. Companies with operations reliant on Charleroi—particularly tech firms in the Walloon Aeropole and SMEs using low-cost flights to Central Europe—should keep contingency plans active. For now, flights after 22:00 have resumed, but travel managers are advised to book changeable fares and monitor skeyes communiqués.
Source: Strike Tracker
