A general strike has been called in Italy for tomorrow, Friday 29 November, which will involve the public and private sectors for 24 hours and which will involve all transport systems: Tpl with territorial modes and blocks for the whole day, maritime sector – both for the major and minor islands – and motorways, from 9pm on 28 November to 9pm on 29 November.

A date that therefore promises to be very complicated also for the airline sector, with new mobilizations that will involve several national airports and companies from 00 to 24 on Friday.

Wizz Air Malta Limited staff will be on lockdown all day Friday 29th, with disruption expected at all major Italian airports.

These are the airports involved:

• Milan-Malpensa and Linate: Dussmann Service staff, Spd cleaning staff, AviaPartner handling, Ost Cub Trasporti and Sea staff will take part in the strike for 24 hours;
• Venice Airport: Flai transport and services employees, Aviation Services staff and staff of associated handling companies will interrupt services for four hours, from 2pm to 6pm

These disruptions could cause delays or cancellations, both for domestic and international flights.

Furthermore, a dialogue has been opened in the last few hours between the unions and the Ministry of Transport, to reduce the duration of the protest to four hours.

What do passengers need to know?

Before travelling, it is always advisable to contact the airline in question to obtain information on the status of the flights. To ensure you are prepared, AirHelp - a leading company in matters of passenger assistance and flight compensation- explains how, in the event of a strike, for flight cancellations or delays caused by protests involving company personnel, the assessment will have to be made on a case-by-case basis.

The EU regulation also establishes that passengers have the right to assistance and replacement transportation as soon as possible. Furthermore, if additional expenses are incurred during the wait due to flight disruption (food, accommodation or lost baggage), passengers can ask the airline to cover these costs.