Belgian strike diverts 15 flights to Maastricht Aachen Airport

Maastricht Aachen Airport will handle 15 extra flights on Tuesday because of a national strike in Belgium that is shutting down Charleroi Airport and sharply curtailing operations at Brussels Airport, L1 reports.

Ten additional passenger flights from Wizz Air and two from Corendon will arrive at the Dutch airport, along with three extra cargo flights. The disruptions stem from Belgium’s national strike day on May 12.

Belgian unions ABVV, ACV, and ACLVB are protesting the Belgian government’s “Arizona” coalition reforms, including plans to raise the retirement age to 67, introduce penalties for early retirement, curb automatic wage indexation, and cut spending on pensions and social security.

As a result, Charleroi Airport is handling no flights. Brussels Airport said fewer than half of its planned departures for May 12 will operate.

It is the ninth time since the beginning of last year that union action against government policy has disrupted air traffic in Belgium.

A similar nationwide strike in March also caused widespread problems for air traffic and public transport across Belgium. At Brussels Airport, all departing flights and half of all arriving flights were canceled, affecting a total of 42,500 passengers.