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Brussels Airport controllers strike after bombings over retirement age
BELGIAN air traffic controllers walked off the job protesting an extension of the age at which they could receive full pensions, just when air services were recovering after the Islamic State bombing on March 22.
Some 200 of 400 scheduled flights were cancelled, an airport spokeswoman said. One of Europe's busiest, Brussels airport had reopened 10 days ago at much reduced capacity following the terrorist attacks.
Air traffic agency Belgocontrol said it was still trying to resolve the dispute with a union over plans to raise their pension age from 55 to 58, Reuters reported.
Other unions asked their members to fill in for colleagues who have been calling in sick as a protest, said the Belgian economy minister.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called the action a "kick in the teeth".
The strike began after Belgocontrol management and unions reached an agreement to extend the effective working age of traffic controllers to at least 58.
The staffing shortage, which also affected operations at Ryanair's Belgian base south of Brussels in Charleroi, led Brussels Airport to cancel all takeoffs and landings from about 4.30pm local time on Tuesday before a gradual resumption at about 5.45pm.
The terminal continued to operate at a reduced rate with about 50 flights cancelled Wednesday morning, Brussels Airport said in a statement. "If actions continue, more flight cancellations are to be expected," it said.
"This country no longer needs terrorists to blow it up," fumed Le Soir newspaper. "It's doing it all on its own, with its absurdities, its lack of responsibility, its going off in all directions, its pantomimes. Have we lost our sense of reality?"
Some 200 of 400 scheduled flights were cancelled, an airport spokeswoman said. One of Europe's busiest, Brussels airport had reopened 10 days ago at much reduced capacity following the terrorist attacks.
Air traffic agency Belgocontrol said it was still trying to resolve the dispute with a union over plans to raise their pension age from 55 to 58, Reuters reported.
Other unions asked their members to fill in for colleagues who have been calling in sick as a protest, said the Belgian economy minister.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called the action a "kick in the teeth".
The strike began after Belgocontrol management and unions reached an agreement to extend the effective working age of traffic controllers to at least 58.
The staffing shortage, which also affected operations at Ryanair's Belgian base south of Brussels in Charleroi, led Brussels Airport to cancel all takeoffs and landings from about 4.30pm local time on Tuesday before a gradual resumption at about 5.45pm.
The terminal continued to operate at a reduced rate with about 50 flights cancelled Wednesday morning, Brussels Airport said in a statement. "If actions continue, more flight cancellations are to be expected," it said.
"This country no longer needs terrorists to blow it up," fumed Le Soir newspaper. "It's doing it all on its own, with its absurdities, its lack of responsibility, its going off in all directions, its pantomimes. Have we lost our sense of reality?"
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