Good news - No air travel strikes
While strikes involving airports’ ground staff or airline cabin crews are far from rare in Italy, no such walkouts will take place over the Christmas holidays as Italian law bans any union-related demonstration impacting air travel from December 18th to January 7th.
This however does not mean that there won’t be any risk of disruption for passengers flying to or from Italy over the festive season.
Christmas is the busiest time of the year for air travel. With tens of thousands of passengers set to crowd airport terminals up and down the country, queues at check-in desks and baggage collections as well as potential flight delays cannot be ruled out.
On this note, it’s worth remembering that, should your planned journey be significantly delayed or cancelled, you may be entitled to compensation under EU legislation.
Are any other strikes planned?
While there are no strikes for any form of transport planned between Monday, December 16th, and Tuesday, January 7th, there is a 24-hour general strike scheduled for Friday, December 13th, affecting both public and private operators.
Passengers flying to, from and across Italy may face disruption on Sunday, December 15th, as staff at TechnoSky (an agency providing air navigation services) plan to strike for 24-hours.
On the same date, ENAV air traffic controllers at Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate and Bergamo Orio al Serio plan to stage a four-hour strike – from 1pm to 5pm.
Local public transport
Most local public transport companies in the country will operate on a reduced timetable (also known as orari festivi) over the holidays.
But the quality and frequency of services during the Christmas break will vary significantly between rural and urban areas, as well as between cities.
Areas that are usually served by the occasional bus may well see stripped-to-the-bone services over the Christmas holidays.
On the contrary, parts of the country which already have robust public transport networks tend to keep them fairly active over the holidays, including on key dates such as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Usually, in most major cities, daytime services will run on a relatively standard timetable, whereas a number of ‘minimum services’ (servizi minimi) will run in the late hours of the evening and at night.
In Rome, all metro lines (Metro A, B and C) will stop at 11.30 on Christmas Eve along with various bus routes. The last call on the Roma-Lido line will also be at 9.00pm, with rail replacement services in place until 11pm.
On Christmas day, all buses, trams and metros in Rome will be in service from 8.30am to 1pm and then again from 4.30pm to 9pm.
Between December 7th and January 6th, the capital will also run a couple of free buses in the centre. You can find more information here.
In Milan, metro lines M1, M2, M3 and M4 will run from 5.30am to 12.30am on Tuesday, December 24th. On Wednesday, December 25th, the four lines will be in service from 7am to 7.30pm. You can find more information here.
Pricey rail travel
Regional and local trains around the country tend to run on fairly reduced timetables over the holidays, especially on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which is why passengers are advised to check the holiday schedules of the relevant rail operator well in advance.
These can usually be found on the operator’s website or social media channels.
As for interregional and long-distance trains, they generally run on relatively standard timetables during the holidays, and even on Christmas Day itself you'll find dozens of high-speed services connecting major Italian cities around the country.
With that said, tickets won’t come cheap, especially if travel plans include going from the north to the south of the country.
According to a recent report by Corriere della Sera, train fares between Milan and Reggio Calabria may reach peaks of €345 between December 19th and December 23rd.
Those looking to get to Sicily for the holidays can do so with a newly launched line: Sicilia Express. The train starts in Turin’s Porta Nuova station and calls at Novara, Milan, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Salerno before reaching Palermo and Syracuse.
Tickets for the journey start from around €30 one way and are valid for travel between Saturday, December 21st, and Sunday, January 5th.
More information can be found here.
Traffic jams
Italy’s motorways (or autostrade) often become congested during national public holidays, including Christmas.
Based on previous years’ events, the two days before Christmas Eve (that’s Sunday, December 22nd, and Monday, December 23rd) should be the worst dates to travel on Italian roads, with traffic jams likely to build up from around mid-morning and only break up in the late afternoon.
The major motorways connecting the north of the country to the south, including the A1 Milan-Naples, A14 Bologna-Taranto and A24 Rome-Teramo, are the most likely to experience heavy traffic, as many Italians will return to their hometowns to spend time with family and friends.
If you’re planning on travelling on those days, there are a number of resources that you can use to keep up to date with the latest developments on the road, including this live map from motorway company Autostrade per l’Italia showing road closures and traffic jams as well as the locations of the nearest petrol stations and service areas.
Those flouting the requirement may face fines of up to 335 euros.
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