Charleroi Airport: skeyes air traffic controllers strike every night from 16 September to 10 October 2026 (22:00–08:00)

Air traffic controllers employed by skeyes at Brussels South Charleroi Airport are on strike every night from 22:00 to 08:00, for 24 consecutive nights from Wednesday 16 September to Saturday 10 October 2026. The action was called by the SLFP/VSOA and CSC unions after five rounds of talks with skeyes failed.

What is affected

• Flights scheduled to land or take off between 22:00 and 08:00 — mostly Ryanair, which bases a large fleet at Charleroi. Late-evening arrivals and early-morning departures are the most exposed; the airport estimates around 800 flight movements could be hit over the period.
• On the first day, Wednesday 16 September, Ryanair cancelled 14 rotations from 16:10 onwards (including Bucharest, Brindisi, Ibiza, Palma, Madrid, Venice, Bologna, Prague, Turin, Manchester, Stockholm, Tirana and Palermo) and 8 early departures on Thursday 17 September between 06:25 and 07:20 (Helsinki, Valencia, Barcelona, Kaunas, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Pisa, Venice).
• Daytime flights outside the strike window are expected to operate, but aircraft that cannot return to Charleroi overnight may cause knock-on cancellations the next morning.

Why

The dispute is about pay for night work. Controllers say they receive no specific night allowance although the airport lets delayed aircraft land after its official closing time; skeyes says the airport is officially closed overnight and that the existing shift allowance already exceeds €1,000.

Advice

Check your flight status with your airline before travelling to the airport, especially for departures before 08:00 or arrivals after 22:00.