Air passengers face potential disruption amid traffic control strikes
Passengers departing from or arriving at Milan Linate, Palermo Falcone and Borsellino, Bari Karol Wojtyła and Brindisi Papola Casale may face disruption on Friday as staff at air traffic control agency Enav and its subsidiary, Techno Sky, were set to walk out from 1pm to 5pm.
The protests, which were called by trade unions RSU and FILT-CGIL, may result in flight delays or cancellations at any of the involved airport hubs, as well as delays in ground operations including check-in and baggage drop-off or collection services.
READ ALSO: How will Italy's airport strikes affect travel on Friday?
No airline flying to or from Italy had publicly announced cancellations as of Friday morning.
In the event of delays or cancellations, affected passengers may be entitled to either a refund or rebooking under Europe's Air Passenger Rights.
Italy to test new emergency alert system in southern Campania region
People in Italy’s southern Campania region were set to receive a text from the Civil Protection department at 5pm on Friday as part of the trial of IT-Alert, a new nationwide emergency alert system set up to warn people of emergencies and potential dangers in their area.
Mobile phone users were set to get a message available in both Italian and English warning of an “ongoing simulation of possible volcanic activity" at Campi Flegrei, an active volcanic caldera near Naples.
Due to a phenomenon known as ‘overshooting’, phones in neighbouring regions may also receive the message.
IT-Alert underwent a series of trials across different Italian regions last year, with authorities saying the system would be implemented at a national level at some point in 2024.
Once operational, IT-alert will be used to notify people of “ongoing or imminent emergencies or catastrophic events” by sending info on the relevant event as well as any “self-protection measures to be adopted immediately”.
According to the IT-alert website, the system will be used in the case of tsunamis, volcanic activity, nuclear incidents and extreme weather events.
London-bound Ryanair flight forced to return to Brindisi after takeoff
A Ryanair flight to London was forced to return to Brindisi Airport, in Italy’s southern Puglia region, on Thursday morning after some warning lights went off in the plane’s cockpit around 40 minutes following takeoff, according to Ansa.
Once back in Brindisi, all passengers were asked to disembark from the plane to allow for safety checks.
No technical issues were reported following the checks and the plane was rescheduled for departure at 2pm in the afternoon.
The incident came a week after the engine of a Ryanair flight that was about to take off from Brindisi caught fire, leading to the emergency evacuation of 184 passengers and crew and forcing the airport to shut down for several hours.
Shooting at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon possible 'war crime': Italy’s defence minister
Italy's defence minister Guido Crosetto on Thursday said shells fired at the headquarters of the UN's peacekeeping base in Lebanon "could constitute war crimes", AFP reported.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli tank fire had wounded two Indonesian Blue Helmets on Thursday.
"The hostile acts committed and repeated by Israeli forces against the base [...] could constitute war crimes," Crosetto told a press conference.
Crosetto said he had told Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant "that what is happening [...] starting from the shooting at the UNIFIL headquarters is, for me and for the Italian government, unacceptable".
He slammed the "shooting" and other incidents involving "small arms fire" as "intolerable" and "in clear contrast to international law".
Thursday's incident was the most serious reported by UNIFIL since it said it had rejected Israeli demands to "relocate" from some ground positions last week.
Italy has more than 1,000 soldiers in the 10,000-strong force in south Lebanon, according to UNIFIL.
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