Hundreds of flights cancelled due to Italy airport strike - here’s what to do if you’re affected

Hundreds of flights to and from Italy have been cancelled by a 24 hour long strike by airport staff in the country.

The strike has today (Tue 21 May) prompted easyJet to cancel 30 of its routes to and from airports in Italy, as airline, airport and air traffic control staff launch a coordinated demonstration over working conditions and pay.

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Meanwhile the industrial action, which looks set to impact hundreds of British holidaymakers and travellers, also saw six flights between London City Airport and Milan cancelled.

Which airlines are affected?

National airline Alitalia has been forced to ground more than half its flights of today’s flights, following on from earlier disruptions yesterday.

It is estimated more than 300 of its departures have been grounded.

Alitalia said it “has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes.”

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A spokesperson for easyJet said, “Although this is outside of our control we would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience and would like to assure them that we are doing all possible to minimise any disruption as a result of the industrial action.

“We recommend to all customers departing from an Italian airport on Tuesday 21 May to allow extra time to pass through airport security as queues may be longer than usual.”

Other airlines travelling to and from the UK also believe that they could fall foul of the strike.

A British Airways spokesperson added, “Like other airlines, we could be impacted by industrial action taking place throughout Italy on Tuesday, which may result in a small number of flight delays or cancellations beyond our control.

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“We are monitoring the situation and encourage all customers to provide contact details in their bookings so that we can keep them up to date with the latest information regarding their flights.”

What should passengers do?

Passengers have been told to contact their individual airlines to find out whether flights are cancelled.

This is especially important for those who have booked themselves onto flights that have not yet been officially postponed.

The article originally appeared on our sister site The Scotsman.

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