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STRIKES

KEY POINTS: How Italy’s transport strikes will hit travel on Friday

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and rail and local public transport services are also expected to be hit in Italy’s ‘black Friday’ strikes on October 21st.

Published: 20 October 2022 17:28 CEST
Updated: 21 October 2022 09:46 CEST
A Ryanair employee talks to a passenger at the check-in counters at the Terminal 2 of El Prat airport in Barcelona on July 1, 2022.
Low-cost carrier Ryanair has cancelled over 600 flights scheduled for Friday, October 21st. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

Countless travellers are once again set to face significant disruption on what some national newspapers have dubbed a ‘venerdi’ nero’ – a black Friday which, sadly, has nothing to do with online bargains. 

A number of national and local strikes, including a 24-hour demonstration from air traffic operators ENAV, are set to create significant disruption for those travelling to, from and across Italy.  

READ ALSO: UPDATE: Ryanair and ITA cancel over 800 Italian flights on Friday due to strike

Flight cancellations

As reported by The Local, staff from national air traffic control company ENAV (Ente Nazionale per l’Assistenza al Volo) will take part in a nationwide 24-hour strike on Friday, October 21st.

The strike is currently expected to hit ITA, easyJet and Ryanair passengers the hardest, though disruption for people travelling with other carriers is not to be ruled out.

National carrier ITA Airways released a statement on Tuesday saying it had cancelled hundreds of international and domestic flights scheduled for Friday. 

The airline published a list of cancelled flights, saying it was working to minimise disruption for those travelling on the day of the strike.

An ITA Airways plane with Pope Francis onboard taxis on September 13, 2022 at Rome's Fiumicino airport.

Like Ryanair, Italian national carrier ITA Airways has cancelled hundreds of domestic and international flights scheduled for Friday. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP

According to the latest available reports however, only 20 percent of ITA passengers will be able to fly on Friday, with the remaining customers being offered alternative flights on the following days or the opportunity to have their tickets reimbursed free of charge until October 28th. 

Ryanair passengers will also be hit by ENAV’s strike as the Irish low-cost carrier has reportedly cancelled over 600 flights to and from Italy on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, the company stated that “all 110,000 affected Ryanair passengers have been notified of their options”, apologising to anyone whose travel plans had been “unfairly impacted”.

READ ALSO: Airport chaos in Europe: What are your rights if flights are delayed or cancelled?

Pilots and crew from Vueling will take part in the strike action throughout the day on Friday, unions have confirmed.

Pilots from easyJet will strike between 11am and 3pm on Friday.

Neither easyJet nor Vueling have yet communicated which flights, if indeed any, will be affected by delays and/or cancellations.

Ahead of Friday’s strike, Italian air traffic authority ENAC (Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile) has published a list of guaranteed flights, which can be consulted at the following link.

ENAC has also said that scheduled flights meant to depart in the 7am-10am and 6pm-9pm time slots will go ahead regularly, though, once again, the possibility that guaranteed services might be affected cannot be ruled out yet.

See more details on what you might be entitled to in case of flight delays or cancellations here. 

Trains and public transport

Aside from ENAV’s strike, a number of smaller strikes are expected to create further disruption at a regional and local level. 

A photograph taken on December 18, 2021 shows the first Frecciarossa, a high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia.

Staff from national rail operator Trenitalia will take part in an eight-hour strike starting at 9am on Friday, thus possibly causing disruption to regional services in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. Photo by Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT / AFP

Notably, staff from Rome’s public transport carrier Roma TPL will strike from 8.30am to 12.30pm, whereas staff from suburban and interurban coach operator Cotral will strike for 24 hours.

According to the latest media reports, services run by ATAC, the capital’s primary public transport company, should go ahead as normal. 

Finally, employees from the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia branches of national rail operator Trenitalia will take part in an eight-hour strike starting at 9am, thus possibly causing disruption to regional services across Italy’s north-east.

Trenitalia guarantees minimum ‘essential’ transport services during strikes. These can be seen here.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

How is Italy’s national public transport strike affecting travel on Friday?

Passengers in cities around Italy, including Rome, Milan and Florence, faced delays and cancellations on Friday, September 20th, as local public transport staff staged a 24-hour nationwide walkout.

Published: 18 September 2024 09:45 CEST
Updated: 20 September 2024 08:31 CEST
How is Italy's national public transport strike affecting travel on Friday?

The walkout was set to affect all types of local public transport, from surface services (buses, trams, commuter trains and ferries) to underground metro lines, but wasn’t expected to impact long-distance rail services and taxis.

As it’s often the case with public transport strikes in Italy, the level of disruption faced by passengers was expected to vary from city to city depending on the number of transport workers participating in the protest.

According to Italian media reports, commuters in major cities, including Rome, Milan, Florence and Venice, were all likely to experience at least some level of disruption on Friday, though the strike may also have an impact in smaller cities and towns.

READ ALSO: The transport strikes to expect in Italy in autumn 2024

The protest was called in late June by some of Italy’s largest transport unions to protest against employers’ “unwillingness to open a dialogue on the issues raised by workers” including “a monthly salary increase of 300 euros [and] a reduction of working hours from 39 to 35 per week”.

Guaranteed services

Under national strike laws, public transport companies are required to guarantee the operation of a number of essential services (servizi minimi) during walkouts.

The exact times vary by operator, but usually coincide with peak travel hours.

Milan’s public transport operator ATM said that the strike may affect its trams, buses and metro lines from 8.45am to 3pm, and then from 6pm until end of service.

Services scheduled outside of the above windows were expected to operate as normal.

Rome’s major public transport operator ATAC said in a statement that services scheduled before 8.30am and from 5pm to 8pm would go ahead as normal. 

Venice’s public transport operator ACTV published a list of all the water network services that were guaranteed to go ahead on Friday. The list is available here (in Italian).  

Florence’s bus operator Autolinee Toscane said it will guarantee services scheduled from 4.15am to 8.14am, and then from 12.30pm to 14.29pm.

Gest, which operates a number of tram lines in Florence, said that services will be guaranteed in the following time slots: from 6.30am to 9.30 am, and from 5pm to 8pm.

In Naples, public transport operator EAV published a list of guaranteed services for each of their lines. See their website for further information. 

Tper, which operates buses in the northeastern Emilia Romagna region, said it will guarantee the operation of services scheduled before 8.30am and from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. Services in the provinces of Ravenna, Forli’-Cesena and Rimini were set to go ahead as normal after the areas were hit by severe flooding on Wednesday, unions said. 

Palermo’s public transport operator Amat warned that its bus and tram lines may be affected by “potential cancellations and disruption” from 8.30am to 5.30pm, and from 8.30pm to midnight.

For details on guaranteed services in other cities around the country, passengers were advised to check the relevant transport company’s website or social media accounts.

Anyone planning to travel by public transport in Italy on Friday was advised to leave extra time for their journey and check the status of local services with the relevant operator before setting off.

Keep up with the latest updates in The Local’s strike news section.

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