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STRIKES

Italy’s ITA Airways cancels flights ahead of strike on Wednesday

Strike action at Italian airports is set to cause further disruption for passengers travelling to or from Italy on Wednesday, May 3rd, after a string of recent protests affected transport in the country.

Published: 2 May 2023 19:35 CEST
Italy's ITA Airways cancels flights ahead of strike on Wednesday
Passengers check an information screen at Rome's Fiumicino airport during a strike. Further strike action has been confirmed for Wednesday, May 3rd. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

A nationwide protest by Italian air traffic controllers, pilots and flight attendants from airline Vueling, and staff from Air Dolomiti will go ahead on Wednesday, Italian trade union Filt CGIL has confirmed, as Italian airline ITA announced flight cancellations on several routes.

The strike will last for four hours on Wednesday, from 1pm to 5pm, and is expected to hit airports across the country including in Rome and Milan.

The announcement of the latest in a long series of transport strikes in Italy came following delays to flights to and from Italian airports caused by the knock-on effects of air traffic control strikes in France over the long weekend.

Italy’s ITA Airways confirmed on Tuesday that it had already cancelled around 50 flights ahead of the strike action. (See a full list of the affected routes on the airline’s website here.)

READ ALSO: The transport strikes to expect in Italy this spring

ITA said in a statement that it would rebook “the largest possible number of travellers involved in the cancellations on the first available flights” and said that 90 percent of passengers affected “will be able to fly on the same day.”

Rome airport management company Aeroporti di Roma said “cancellations or delays could occur” and advised passengers due to fly from Fiumicino or Ciampino airports on Wednesday to contact their airline to check the status of their flight.

Italy’s civil aviation authority ENAC has published a list of flights that are guaranteed to go ahead during Wednesday’s strike. Under Italian law, flights scheduled to leave between 7-10am and 6-9pm are protected from strike action.

The Local will publish further updates as they become available.

You can keep up to date with the latest strike news from Italy HERE.

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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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