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Charleroi airport strike — suspended after 322 cancellations

Over — claims still open

The disruption has ended, but the claim deadline has not. You can still file. Last checked 2026-09-23.

The Skeyes air traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi suspended their night strike on the morning of 23 September, after seven nights and 322 cancelled flights. Because the strikers work for Skeyes and not for the airline, the fixed compensation is unlikely — but every cancelled passenger is still owed a refund or re-routing, and meals and a hotel where they were stranded. Those claims are open now.

Suspended on 23 September — re-checked the same day

The strike is off for now. On the morning of Wednesday 23 September the Skeyes unions accepted negotiations on the Charleroi night allowance under an external mediator, and suspended the action “with immediate effect” so the talks could run “in a calm climate”. It had run seven of its twenty-four nights and cost 322 cancelled flights.

Suspended is not withdrawn. If mediation fails, the unions can put the action back, and the original notice ran to 10 October. If you fly from Charleroi early in the morning before then, it is worth checking your booking the day before.

For anyone already cancelled, nothing about the suspension changes the claim. The refund, the re-routing costs and the care you paid for are all still owed — and a flight cancelled in advance for a date after the 23rd now needs a better reason than a strike that is no longer happening.

Work out what you are owed →

When

Every night from 16 September, 22:00 to 08:00, until the unions suspended the action on Wednesday 23 September 2026. It had been called for twenty-four nights, to 10 October. The overnight closure did its damage in the first wave of the morning, because an airport that cannot open at 06:00 loses every early departure. 322 flights were cancelled in all.

Who was striking, and why it decides your claim

The controllers are employed by <strong>Skeyes</strong>, the autonomous public body that runs Belgian air traffic control — not by Ryanair, not by Wizz Air and not by the airport. The dispute is over night premiums: Charleroi’s controllers want the night allowance their colleagues at Liège receive. Five meetings failed, and the unions rejected an offer of about €10,000 gross a year per controller from 2028 on Monday 21 September. Two days later they accepted negotiation under an <strong>external mediator</strong> and suspended the strike “with immediate effect” so that talks could proceed. Skeyes welcomed it and said it would take full part in the mediation.

Compensation is unlikely — but care is still owed

The strike was at Skeyes — the air navigation provider, outside the airline — so it normally counts as an extraordinary circumstance under Article 5(3), and the fixed compensation falls away. That is the airline’s only defence here. The strike was announced on 14–15 September and the first night was the 16th, so every cancellation reached passengers with less than fourteen days’ notice; the notice rule in Article 5(1)(c) does not help the airline at all. It has to show that the strike caused your particular cancellation and that it took all reasonable measures to avoid it. For a flight cancelled for a date after the suspension, that is a question worth asking.

Airports most likely to be affected

Charleroi is an EU departure, so EU261 governs it at €250, €400 or €600 by distance whoever operates the flight. A flight into Charleroi from outside the EU is covered only if the operating carrier is an EU one — which, on these routes, it almost always is.

What you are owed

What you can claimDoes it survive this strike?
Fixed compensation of €250–€600Unlikely — the strikers work for Skeyes, not the airline
A full refund within seven days, or re-routingOwed in full — and the choice is yours
Re-routing at the earliest opportunity, including on another airlineOwed — “earliest” is not “our next empty seat”
Meals and refreshments, and a hotel if you were stuck overnightOwed in full, and reimbursable against receipts
Compensation for a flight cancelled for a date after 23 SeptemberArguable — the strike that justified it had been suspended

The third row is the one Ryanair passengers lose most often. Article 8 says re-routing at the earliest opportunity under comparable transport conditions. If the airline’s own next seat on that route was four days away and another carrier flew it the next day, the Commission’s interpretive guidelines say the earliest opportunity can mean that other carrier — so if you paid for that ticket yourself, claim it. Charleroi is also not Brussels Airport: if you were re-routed via BRU, getting between the two was part of the airline’s obligation, not yours.

What to do, in order

  1. Keep the cancellation email with its timestamp. It proves the date you were told and the reason given. Screenshot it before the booking is re-issued; the original record tends to vanish from the app.
  2. Claim the refund or the re-routing costs. If you took a refund, it is due within seven days. If you bought your own replacement because the airline’s offer was days away, claim the difference and say that it did not offer re-routing at the earliest opportunity.
  3. Claim the care, with receipts. Meals, and a hotel with transport if you were stranded overnight. Article 9 applies during extraordinary circumstances and is uncapped — settled since McDonagh v Ryanair (C-12/11), the ash-cloud case.
  4. If your flight was after 23 September, ask why it is still cancelled. One line: “The Skeyes strike was suspended on 23 September. Please confirm in writing why flight [number] on [date] remains cancelled and what reasonable measures were taken to operate it.” The burden is on the airline.
  5. Escalate free if you are refused. A Belgian departure goes to the national enforcement body at the FPS Mobility and Transport. It is free and takes no percentage.

Where to send it

The airports above are the Ryanair links named as cancelled during the strike. The strike was at Charleroi, so it is the Charleroi end of each route that failed — including return legs, which is what caught passengers who were already abroad. The Ryanair claim guide has the airline’s own forms and the refusals it tends to send back.

The rules behind this

A strike outside the airline is treated differently from one by its own crew — the strike guide draws that line, and the duty-of-care guide covers the rights that survive it. If you were moved rather than cancelled, the missed-connection guide is the one you want.

Other disruptions we are tracking

The full list, with dates and airports

Sources

This page reports what has been published elsewhere. It is not affiliated with any airline or authority, and the position can change — check your own flight status.

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