Alitalia Forced to Cancel Fights Due to Airport Strike

Flight passengers travelling to, from and within Italy have experienced severe delays and cancellations following the widespread strikes by aviation workers. More industrial actions are planned for the end of the Easter holidays.

Alitalia staffs along with groups of ground staff are striking in disputes on pay and conditions. Hundreds of flights on the Italian national airline have been cancelled, causing to 60 percent of the day’s schedule.

Alitalia airline said that it has immediately taken special measures to minimize inconvenience to its customers, by rebooking as many of the passengers affected by cancellations as possible on the first available flights.

But with many services cancelled, including multiple flights to New York and other long-haul destinations, it could take days to get passengers where they need to be. Flights from Heathrow and London City to Milan and Rome were among those cancelled.

Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport showed a vast number of impending strikes by transport workers on its “strike calendar”. For instance, many bus drivers in the Lazio region surrounding Rome will strike, followed by their counterparts in Sicily, the Naples area and Brescia. Railway workers in the Piedmont region will call for strike recently.

More aviation strikes are planned across the country for 21 April — a key date for British families returning from their Easter holiday breaks. British Airways, which serves a handful of flights from Florence, Genoa and Pisa apologized to its customers saying unfortunately they have been forced to cancel a very small number of services.