Posted on September 30, 2010 by Fiona Hilliard

Europe’s airports are suffering from a killer hang-over today.

Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. It’s all down to those Gallic upstarts in Belgium who kicked off events on Tuesday.

What happened, again?

Out of the blue, air traffic controllers laid down their headsets and decided to go on a wildcat strike, effectively closing two of the country’s main airports for 24 hours.

Spain joined in yesterday with airport workers staging a 24-hour walk out and shutting down baggage handling services.

Passengers are still feeling the after effects today, with many long delays still in place.

Queues are something that we’ll be seeing a lot more of over the coming months. Europe’s air travel industry is not a happy place to be these days and this week’s protests are just the tip of the iceberg.

The following is a round-up of what’s in store for Europe-bound passengers this autumn/winter:

Strikes in Finland

Tuesday October 5th: Finnish ground handlers strike.  All provisional airports involved. Finnair and Finncomm passengers should expect disruptions.

Wednesday October 6th: Finnair cabin crew and Finnish Aviation Union strike.

Strikes in France

Saturday October 2nd: Demonstrations

Tuesday October 12th: French general strike

Strikes in Greece

Thursday October 7th: Greek general strike (24 Hours)

Strikes in Italy

Thursday September 30th: 24 –hour Italian rail strike

Thursday September 30th: Strike by airport workers at Padua Airport (12 – 4pm)

Thursday October 14th: Pilots, technical crew and cabin crew for Meridiana Fly will strike for four hours 10 am -2pm.

Monday October 25th: Pilots for Meridiana Fly to strike for four hours 10am to 2pm.

November 5th: Alitalia workers to strike 12-4pm.

November 6th: Airport personnel in Milan Linate airport and Malpensa airport(24-hour strike).

November 17th: Pilots for Alitalia and Air One strike for 24 hours.