Photo: Liege Airport
The majority of flights from Liege and Brussels airports have been cancelled on 13 February as a result of nationwide strikes.
Strikes are taking place across the country in response to government pension reform plans, with air traffic controller Skeyes one of the affected organisations.
As a result, Belgian airspace will be closed and no airspace traffic will be possible over Belgium from 6:45am to 10:15pm.
A Liege Airport spokesperson confirmed to Air Cargo News that there would be minimal flight operations on 13 February. 35 flights were expected before 6:15am - before the strikes get underway and the airport closes - and a further 15 were expected after the strikes end and the airport re-opens in the late evening.
Brussels Airport said: ”Due to the national demonstration on 13 February and the announced strike by Skeyes, the Belgian airspace will be closed and no airspace traffic will be possible over Belgium on that day from 6:45am to 10:15pm.”
All arriving flights at Brussels Airport are cancelled during those hours while departing flights are cancelled all day.
Charleroi Airport in the south of Brussels has also announced it will cancel all flights on Thursday to ensure safe operations.
The strikes will undoubtedly affect cargo operations. Liege is one of the busiest cargo airports in Europe and a freighter specialist.
One freight forwarder said the strikes would have an impact for a short time but added that Liege shouldn’t take too long to clear any backlogs given the airport has 24/7 operations.
Meanwhile, Maastricht Aachen Airport in the Netherlands said it was gearing up to handle extra flights as a result of the strikes.
“We are proud of our team’s effort to prepare for situations like this and move so quickly to make sure our airport is prepared to operate passenger and cargo flights at short notice,” said Joost Meijs, chief executive, Maastricht Aachen Airport.
Last year the airport reported a 15.6% year-on-year increase in cargo demand to 1.2m tonnes - it’s second busiest year on record.
Over the past few years, the airport has succeeded in increasing the number of cargo airlines operating out of the hub, from 40 at the end of 2023 to 48 at the end of 2024, and the number of logistics providers on site, from 37 at the end of 2023 to 57 at the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Brussels is also a busy cargo airport. Last year cargo volumes amounted to 732,797 tonnes, or a 5% increase compared to 2023.
The hub benefitted from overall market growth while four new airlines started cargo operations: LATAM Cargo, Lufthansa Cargo, Farcargo and Virgin Atlantic.
