Road and rail links to Brussels Airport were severely disrupted on Monday, 12 October, after Belgium’s socialist public-sector union CGSP staged a 24-hour national strike. While the airport operator reported that flight operations were running to schedule, the walk-out slashed transport capacity on every mode that travellers normally rely on to reach the terminal. Belgian rail operator SNCB/NMBS ran an emergency timetable that operated roughly 70 % of InterCity services and only half of local trains. Peak-hour ‘P-trains’ were largely withdrawn, forcing commuters and business travellers onto the congested E40 and A201 motorways. Brussels’ STIB metro, De Lijn buses in Flanders and TEC services in Wallonia all warned of patchy, route-by-route availability, while taxi ranks reported long queues during the morning rush. The action follows a separate strike by ground-handling company Alyzia on 9 October that triggered more than 100 flight cancellations. Brussels Airport was keen to draw a distinction: this time the risk related to landside access rather than airside operations. Nevertheless, airlines told corporate travel managers to advise passengers to allow “at least two extra hours” for the journey to the airport and to favour pre-booked private transfers where possible. Beyond immediate inconvenience, the strike underscores a growing labour relations headache for companies moving staff into or through Belgium. 2026 has already seen seven national walk-outs targeting public transport, and unions have threatened further action if federal budget plans cut staffing or pensions. Mobility teams should build wider time buffers into itineraries for Q4 and consider remote work alternatives on known strike days. Travel risk consultants also highlight secondary impacts such as delayed baggage delivery and missed onward rail connections for arriving passengers. Car-rental firms at Zaventem reported record demand on Monday morning, suggesting that contingency plans are best made well in advance.
Source: Air Journal
