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Transport services were severely disrupted in Belgium as general strikes took place nationwide over the proposed federal reforms and cuts to pensions.
Departure flights in Brussels Airport, also known as Zaventem, were cancelled as security and airport personnel participated in the strikes. The country’s main airport only received 103 incoming flights. 261 flights were originally set to land at the airport.
Further south of the city, Charleroi, a major European hub for low cost airlines like Ryanair, preventively cancelled all its flights on Wednesday, citing a lack of staff. All flights were grounded for the day.
“Passengers scheduled to fly via Charleroi on 25 June will be contacted by their airline for a rebooking or refund. We regret the impact of this national strike on our passengers’ travel plans and apologise for any inconvenience caused,” said Charleroi Airport in a statement on their website.
“I have to wake up at six. I have to come here. I have to wait. I don’t know what is going on. It’s the first time for me, that kind of situation. And I’m a little bit shocked, to be honest,” said a traveller.
The coming days are expected to be extremely busy in Brussels’ two airports as airlines scrambled to rebook passengers affected by the strikes on the next flights. Zaventem airport expects to process around 90,000 passengers per day for the coming few days.
“Tomorrow will be a lot busier than initially anticipated 12,000 extra passengers and also Friday we have 2,000 more passengers than initially anticipated. So it will be busy days at the airport, also with the holiday exodus so is especially important to get to the airport on time,” said Ihsane Chioua Lekhli, spokesperson for Brussels Airport.
This is the fifth major strike to take place this year to oppose what protesters called unacceptable proposed reforms to the pension bill. The federal government had planned to scrap a special pension scheme and unify retirement age for all civil servants – to 66 – to make it in line with that of the private sector.
The proposal has enraged many workers and trade unions, who concurrently organised several major protests around the country.
“I feel very bad that half-way through our career they are going to reform our pension and that we are going to have less pension. And that we’re probably going to buy tanks and other things to wage war with that money instead,” said a protester with the Christian union.
Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever was appointed prime minister in early February after months of coalition talks following Belgium’s federal elections in June of last year.
The government says pension reforms are needed as the rising life expectancy is causing costs to soar in a country already grappling with a large federal budget deficit which is in violation of European Union rules.
Brussels, a NATO member, has also pledged to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, in line with the new NATO targets adopted on Wednesday in the summit in The Hague.
Additional sources • EBU
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