Belgium flights cancelled for a day amid strike

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Europe

Belgian airspace was to be closed to all flights on Wednesday due to a national strike, which threatened to bring the European country to a standstill.

With "no certainty" on how many controllers would be following the strike movement, Belgium's air traffic agency Skeyes said it was "forced to prohibit" national air traffic for 24 hours, beginning from 22:00 (21:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

No aircraft flying below 8,000 meters altitude, the area controlled by Skeyes, will be allowed to fly over the country, said Dominique Dehaene, the agency's spokesman.

Government, military and emergency flights will be allowed, he added.

Above 8,000 meters (26,000 feet), a control center in the Dutch city of Maastricht controls aircraft flying over Belgian territory.

A Ryanair aircraft is parked on the tarmac during a wider European strike at the airline to protest slow progress in negotiating a collective labor agreement, at Brussels South Charleroi Airport, August 10, 2018. /VCG Photo

Skeyes was not able to say how many flights or how many passengers would be affected.

A general strike called by three unions, which are calling for higher wages, is expected to paralyze Belgium on Wednesday.

Brussels, home to NATO, will be hosting a meeting of defense ministers on Wednesday, with officials from throughout the transatlantic military alliance converging on the city.

"We have no indication of any impact of the strike on the meeting," said a NATO official.

Charleroi airport, the second largest in Belgium and a local hub for low-cost giant Ryanair, had already announced its closure. Belgium's Brussels Airlines has cancelled all its 222 flights.

The German carrier TUI fly will operate its scheduled Belgian flights from the nearest French and Dutch airports.

Source(s): AFP