Countless travellers are once again set to face significant disruption on what some national newspapers have dubbed a ‘venerdi’ nero’ – a black Friday which, sadly, has nothing to do with online bargains.
A number of national and local strikes, including a 24-hour demonstration from air traffic operators ENAV, are set to create significant disruption for those travelling to, from and across Italy.
READ ALSO: UPDATE: Ryanair and ITA cancel over 800 Italian flights on Friday due to strike
Flight cancellations
As reported by The Local, staff from national air traffic control company ENAV (Ente Nazionale per l’Assistenza al Volo) will take part in a nationwide 24-hour strike on Friday, October 21st.
The strike is currently expected to hit ITA, easyJet and Ryanair passengers the hardest, though disruption for people travelling with other carriers is not to be ruled out.
National carrier ITA Airways released a statement on Tuesday saying it had cancelled hundreds of international and domestic flights scheduled for Friday.
The airline published a list of cancelled flights, saying it was working to minimise disruption for those travelling on the day of the strike.
According to the latest available reports however, only 20 percent of ITA passengers will be able to fly on Friday, with the remaining customers being offered alternative flights on the following days or the opportunity to have their tickets reimbursed free of charge until October 28th.
Ryanair passengers will also be hit by ENAV’s strike as the Irish low-cost carrier has reportedly cancelled over 600 flights to and from Italy on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, the company stated that “all 110,000 affected Ryanair passengers have been notified of their options”, apologising to anyone whose travel plans had been “unfairly impacted”.
READ ALSO: Airport chaos in Europe: What are your rights if flights are delayed or cancelled?
Pilots and crew from Vueling will take part in the strike action throughout the day on Friday, unions have confirmed.
Pilots from easyJet will strike between 11am and 3pm on Friday.
Neither easyJet nor Vueling have yet communicated which flights, if indeed any, will be affected by delays and/or cancellations.
Ahead of Friday’s strike, Italian air traffic authority ENAC (Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazione Civile) has published a list of guaranteed flights, which can be consulted at the following link.
ENAC has also said that scheduled flights meant to depart in the 7am-10am and 6pm-9pm time slots will go ahead regularly, though, once again, the possibility that guaranteed services might be affected cannot be ruled out yet.
See more details on what you might be entitled to in case of flight delays or cancellations here.
Trains and public transport
Aside from ENAV’s strike, a number of smaller strikes are expected to create further disruption at a regional and local level.
Notably, staff from Rome’s public transport carrier Roma TPL will strike from 8.30am to 12.30pm, whereas staff from suburban and interurban coach operator Cotral will strike for 24 hours.
According to the latest media reports, services run by ATAC, the capital’s primary public transport company, should go ahead as normal.
Finally, employees from the Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia branches of national rail operator Trenitalia will take part in an eight-hour strike starting at 9am, thus possibly causing disruption to regional services across Italy’s north-east.
Trenitalia guarantees minimum ‘essential’ transport services during strikes. These can be seen here.
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