Rome. Photo: PassportNews A wave of severe disruptions is expected to hit thousands of travelers and tourists across Italy this week. According to official figures from the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport's strike calendar, a large-scale national strike will take place in the aviation industry tomorrow (30.9.26).
The strike, scheduled for a specific four-hour window between 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM (local time), is expected to lead to a wave of delays, postponements, and cancellations of flights throughout the country.
Behind the move are the employees of two key companies critical to the management of airspace in Italy. ENAV is the government company solely responsible for civil air traffic control in Italy. The controllers of this company manage the control towers at airports and the flight paths that pass through the country's skies. The strike means that no one is allowed to take off, land or transit through airspace without special permission
he second company is Techno Sky, a subsidiary of ENAV that is responsible for all technological infrastructure, maintenance, and operation of the systems, radars, and air navigation systems. The current strike is being led by labor organizations and trade unions in protest over employment conditions, wages, and collective agreements in the industry.
In addition to the nationwide impact on flights, the system also records local strikes by crew and ground personnel. This means that the most severe congestion and disruptions will be felt mainly at the large, tourist-heavy airports of Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Venice, Naples, Bologna, Bari, Florence and Pisa.
The fact that air traffic controllers are the ones taking part in the strike creates a domino effect. Since the strike is taking place during the busy afternoon hours, many tourists are expected to face mass flight cancellations.
International and domestic airlines have already begun to reduce or reschedule flights during these hours to avoid a complete shutdown of operations.
In addition, a ripple effect is expected, with flights scheduled to take off immediately before or after the strike suffering rolling delays as planes fail to land on time and crews become overwhelmed at airports.
The only bright spot for travelers is the Italian aviation law, which completely protects flights taking off or landing during the designated protection windows of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. These flights are expected to operate as usual. Italy's civil aviation authority is expected to publish an official, limited list of specific international flights that will be exempted and allowed despite the strike.
Passengers and tourists holding flight tickets for this coming Wednesday are advised to check their flight status with the airline, travel agency, and the official airport departure and arrival boards. As with any strike in the Italian aviation industry, the actual extent of disruptions may change until the last minute.