Charleroi Airport Controllers Begin 24 Nights of Strikes, Grounding Ryanair Flights

Air traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport began a series of nightly strikes on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. It is the first of 24 consecutive nights of industrial action scheduled to run through October 10, covering every night shift from 22:00 to 08:00 local time.

The first cancellations came hours before the walkout itself started. Ryanair dropped 14 round trip services on Wednesday, beginning with a 16:10 departure, because the returning aircraft would have landed after controllers stopped work.

Wednesday’s canceled routes included Bucharest, Ibiza, Palma, Madrid, Venice, Bologna, Prague, Turin, Manchester and Stockholm. Another eight morning departures were pulled for Thursday, among them Helsinki, Valencia, Barcelona and Budapest, according to the airport’s published schedule as reported by The Brussels Times.

Why an Overnight Strike Cancels Afternoon Flights

Charleroi is officially closed overnight, so a stoppage running from 22:00 to 08:00 looks narrow on paper. The damage spreads because an airline will not dispatch an aircraft whose return leg cannot land.

That is why day one began unraveling in the late afternoon. An evening service to Palma or Bucharest only works if the jet can come back, and one that cannot strands both the aircraft and its crew away from base.

The following morning then absorbs the same problem from the other side. Aircraft that never made it home cannot operate the first departures, which is why Skeyes expects the early wave to take the heavier share of the losses. It is the same cascade that makes one delay create more across a schedule.

A Fight Over Night Pay, and What Liege Has to Do With It

The VSOA union wants the controllers’ night allowance raised to 160% of its current level, arguing for parity with colleagues at other units, notably Liege. Skeyes says the allowance already exceeds 1,000 euros per shift per controller.

Skeyes argues the two sites are not comparable. Charleroi shuts at night while Liege does not, and it averages about three night flights against roughly 27 at Liege, according to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF.

Most arrivals at Charleroi are Ryanair aircraft returning before midnight, after which Skeyes says controllers can sleep on site. That arrangement dates to a 2009 reform, which replaced a system of paid overtime extensions with overnight presence and night compensation.

The union disputes the idea that the airport is genuinely quiet. VSOA representative Lennert Mervilde has pointed to an arrangement letting based aircraft land during the closed period, including one that arrived at 5:20 am the previous week, Travel Tomorrow reported.

This is the dispute’s second escalation. An earlier notice targeting August 12 was suspended on July 31 after talks both sides called constructive, and conciliation continued into mid-August before breaking down.

What Passengers Are Actually Owed

Under EU Regulation 261/2004, a strike outside the airline’s own workforce is generally treated as an extraordinary circumstance. That means the cash compensation of 250 to 600 euros that normally follows a cancellation is usually not payable here.

The rest of the regulation still binds the airline. Passengers keep the right to choose between a refund and rerouting, and the right to care does not depend on who caused the disruption.

Nothing is resolved as the walkouts begin. Neven has urged Skeyes and federal mobility officials to restart dialogue and look at minimum service rules, and the airport has publicly called on both sides to return to the table.

Passengers booked out of Charleroi before October 10 should expect the late evening and early morning banks to stay fragile, since those are the rotations the night shift protects. Midday flights are the most likely to operate as scheduled.