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Italian low-cost airline staff to strike on October 1st

Pilots and flight attendants from Ryanair and Vueling will strike on Saturday, October 1st over wages and working conditions, unions said.

Ryanair check-in counters at Barcelona's El Prat airport.
Pilots and cabin crew from low-cost carrier Ryanair will take part in a 24-hour strike on Saturday, October 1st. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

Pilots and cabin crew from Ryanair and Vueling will take part in a national strike action on Saturday, October 1st, Italian unions confirmed in a statement released on Monday. 

The statement said Ryanair staff will hold a 24-hour walkout, whereas Vueling staff will strike for a total of four hours, from 1pm to 5pm.

At the time of writing it wasn’t yet clear how the strike would affect passengers, though significant delays or cancellations can’t be ruled out. 

Italian trade unions Filt-Cgil and Uiltrasporti called the strike in protest against the employers’ failure to “grant acceptable working conditions and wages that are in line with minimum national salaries”. 

Unions also slammed Spanish airline Vueling’s decision to lay off 17 flight attendants based in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport “after months of hard work and professionalism”. 

A Vueling Airbus A320 plane.

Staff from Spanish airline Vueling will strike over working conditions and the recent lay-off of 17 flight attendants. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

The upcoming strike will be the latest in a long series of demonstrations that rocked Europe’s airline industry over the summer, causing significant disruption to thousands of air passengers. 

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

The last significant strike was held on Monday of last week, when a 24-hour national strike from unionised ground staff caused Italy’s flag carrier, ITA Airways, to cancel several domestic flights. 

On that occasion, ITA said affected passengers were rebooked on the first available flights.

As with all previous strikes, passengers travelling with Ryanair or Vueling on Saturday, October 1st are advised to contact their airline for updates prior to setting off.

In the event of delays and/or cancellations, the rights of all passengers are protected by EU regulation EC 261. This applies to any air passenger flying within the EU/Schengen zone, arriving in the EU/Schengen zone from a non-EU country by means of a EU-based airline (all airlines involved in the strike are EU-based) or departing from the EU/Schengen zone. 

READ ALSO: Passports: What are the post-Brexit rules for dual-nationals travelling in Europe?

According to this regulation, airlines are financially accountable for any journey disruption they are responsible for. That includes disruptions caused by airline staff strikes. Therefore, should your flight be significantly delayed or cancelled, you might be entitled to receive compensation from your airline. 

For further information on what you might be entitled to and in which cases, check our guide here.

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STRIKES

Reader question: Will there be transport strikes in Italy over Easter?

Easter is high season for travel and tourism in Italy, but will travellers face any transport strikes over the busy holiday weekend?

Reader question: Will there be transport strikes in Italy over Easter?

Question: “I’m travelling to Italy for the Easter break and I wondered if there are going to be any strikes?”

As Easter approaches, many people in Italy are preparing for trips – school’s out from Thursday, and although Good Friday isn’t a public holiday many Italians will take the day off work anyway to create a four-day weekend.

With more than ten million Italians plus millions of international visitors planning to travel to the country’s major cities and coastal holiday destinations this weekend, heavy traffic is to be expected on the roads and long-distance trains have been booked up well in advance.

However, Italy is known for its regular transport strikes affecting, everything from airport baggage handling to staffing at motorway toll booths, and at such a busy time these walkouts could prove very disruptive.

READ ALSO: The most popular Italian getaway destinations this Easter

So could this prove problematic for travellers and tourists in Italy in the coming days?

There are no transport strikes planned between Thursday, March 28th and Thursday, April 5th according to the Italian transport ministry’s strike calendar.

And that’s very unlikely to change at this late date, as any planned strike affecting transport in Italy has to be communicated to the transport ministry at least 11 days before it takes place.

Bear in mind however that while travel over the Easter holidays shouldn’t be affected by strikes, public transport services will likely run on a reduced schedule on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday as both days are national holidays in Italy. 

READ ALSO: What’s open in Italy over Easter weekend?

Anyone travelling on those dates is advised to check their transport operator’s orari festivi (holiday schedules) before setting off.

Keep up with the latest travel news from Italy here.

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