Air Traffic Controller Strike Cancels 40 Flights at Charleroi

A night strike by Belgian air traffic controllers cancelled around 40 flights at Brussels South Charleroi Airport on Thursday, September 17, as a 24-night walkout over night-shift pay and the transition to remote digital towers began to disrupt travel across the country.

Both departures and arrivals were affected, with the industrial action — staged by controllers employed by the public company Skeyes, not by airport staff — reducing the airport’s daily activity by between 15 and 20 percent.

A Night Closure With Daytime Fallout

According to RTBF, all flights were cancelled from 22:00 the previous evening, and eight connections were scrapped on Thursday morning before traffic resumed around 08:00. But the disruption rippled well beyond the strike window: because aircraft rotations could not complete overnight, around 40 flights in total were ultimately cancelled over the course of the day.

“The strike is triggered from 22:00. But we also have aircraft doing what are called rotations. And these aircraft won’t have time to leave and return before this 22:00 cutoff,” Nicolas Charluteau, director of operations at Charleroi Airport, told RTBF.

La Libre reported that 44 flights were cancelled between Wednesday and Thursday morning, directly impacting more than 7,000 passengers, with routes to cities including Bucharest, Madrid, Venice, Prague, Manchester and Stockholm among the most affected.

The airport remained able to operate between 08:00 and 20:00, but RTL Info noted that a further thirty flights were expected to be cancelled by the end of the day. Ryanair, the dominant carrier at Charleroi, bore the brunt of the cancellations.

“Forty flights for us, so we are talking about arrivals and departures, 40 flights is around 15-20 percent of our activity lost over the day, so it is a significant impact financially speaking,” Charluteau said.

Why the Controllers Are Striking

The walkout runs every night from 22:00 to 08:00 from September 16 through October 10, and centres on a dispute over night-shift bonuses. Charleroi controllers argue they receive no specific compensation for night work, while their colleagues at Liège — an airport that operates around the clock — do.

As VRT NWS reported, the conflict is about more than pay. The underlying trigger is the arrival of a digital control centre in Namur, expected to become operational in 2027, which will remotely manage take-off, landing and ground traffic at the Charleroi and Liège airports before expanding to Flemish sites. Controllers from both airports will be required to commute to Namur.

Controllers have raised safety concerns about the shift to screens. “In a classic tower you look around 360 degrees at a glance and immediately see how aircraft relate to each other,” one controller, identified by the pseudonym Bart, told VRT NWS. “In a digital tower, you work with screens that show only part of that view and slightly distort the image. That makes it harder to judge distances and conflicts quickly and precisely.”

Skeyes management frames the dispute narrowly as a pay demand, saying controllers are seeking a night bonus increase to 160 percent of the current level — a sum it says already exceeds 1,000 euros per service, per controller — and arguing that Charleroi is a day airport where only about three night flights arrive on average, compared with 27 at Liège. The CSC union rejects that characterization, saying controllers currently receive no specific night indemnity at all and simply want equitable treatment comparable to colleagues at other centres.

A Sector Already on Edge

The strike is the second major disruption to hit Belgian aviation this year. As VRT NWS documented, an unexpected Skeyes strike in early June nearly shut down Belgian airspace, cancelling hundreds of flights, stranding thousands of travellers and causing an estimated 10 million euros in economic damage. Controllers cited a lack of genuine social dialogue — which they call a “social monologue” — unsafe work schedules, fatigue and safety worries about the new digital system. About 190 controllers reportedly wrote to Federal Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke and received no reply.

The latest action follows the failure of a final conciliation meeting on September 14. If no agreement is reached, Skeyes estimates around 832 flight movements could be affected over the full period.

Political Pressure Builds

Walloon Minister in charge of Airports Cécile Neven (MR) has called on Skeyes, its staff and Federal Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke to take all necessary measures to relaunch consultation. “This strike, which is not the work of BSCA workers but of air traffic controllers, directly hits Charleroi Airport, its partners and up to 300,000 passengers. The current situation cannot continue,” she said.

Neven renewed her call for a minimum service, citing the sudden June interruption of air traffic control. For his part, Crucke said a strike is “never good news” and that dialogue must remain the preferred path — “respecting workers, but also the thousands of passengers and companies that depend on the smooth functioning of our air transport.”

The airport itself, BSCA, has deplored a social conflict it says it is “totally foreign to,” warning that the first victims are travellers, airlines and the thousands of workers who depend on airport activity.

What It Means for Passengers

The two sides disagree sharply on the scale of the impact. Skeyes estimates about 832 flight movements could be affected, and the airport puts the figure at up to 150,000 passengers — roughly 5,500 a day — while Neven has cited up to 300,000.

For travellers whose flights are cancelled, RTBF notes that airlines must offer either an alternative flight at the earliest opportunity or a full refund. If a passenger opts for the alternative, the airline must provide assistance, including accommodation and meals where a stay is required. “If it doesn’t do so on its own initiative, keep all proof of these expenses to then claim reimbursement from the airline,” said Julie Frère, spokesperson for the consumer organisation Test-Achats.

Passengers are advised to confirm their flight’s cancellation before acting, and to check its status with their airline before travelling to the airport.

What to Watch

The strike is scheduled to run through October 10 unless an agreement is reached, with talks between unions and management continuing. The standoff reflects a deeper question facing Belgian aviation: how to manage the transition to remotely operated digital control towers without eroding the trust — and the working conditions, rest periods and pay parity — of the controllers who keep the planes moving. With a national pilots’ strike notice over pension age already looming, Belgium’s labour tensions in aviation show little sign of easing.