Monday
Air passengers brace for potential disruption amid national strikes
Passengers flying to, from or within Italy may face disruption on Monday, March 24th, as baggage handlers at airports around the country and Italy-based EasyJet pilots plan to take part in two separate 24-hour walkouts.
The EasyJet pilot strike was called by Italian unions CGIL and FILT after negotiations to improve contractual conditions for both pilots and cabin crew members failed in early February.
The baggage handler protest was called by FLAI – one of Italy’s largest trade unions – to demand higher wages following a rise in living costs.
Flights scheduled to depart from Italy on Monday may be affected by delays or cancellations due to the baggage handler strike. That said, no cancellations had been announced as of Monday morning.
Besides scheduled outbound flights, the protest may also disrupt ground airport operations including check-in and baggage drop-off or collection services.
EasyJet services headed to or departing from Italy may also be hit by delays or cancellations due to the planned 24-hour pilot strike.
READ ALSO: What are my rights in Italy if a flight is cancelled or delayed?
Under Italian air transport laws, services scheduled to depart between 7am and 10am and between 6pm and 9pm are protected from strike action and should therefore go ahead as normal on Monday, according to Italy’s Civil Aviation Authority (Enac).
The operation of a number of intercontinental flights and some services to and from Italy’s major islands Sicily and Sardinia will also be guaranteed. You can find a full list of guaranteed flights HERE.
Tuesday
Dante Day
Cultural events including talks, public readings, lectures and theatre performances will be held around Italy on Tuesday, March 25th, as part of celebrations for Dante Day, which commemorates the legacy of 13th-century Tuscan poet Dante Alighieri.
Dante is considered one of the Western world's greatest literary figures and is best known for the The Divine Comedy – an epic poem narrating the journey of the author’s soul through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.
READ ALSO: Ten strange things you never knew about Dante
The Florence-born poet is often referred to as ‘the father of the Italian language’ as he chose to write his major works in vernacular Italian rather than Latin, which was the standard language for literature at the time.
Dante’s influence on the Italian language was so profound that today’s Italian is largely based on the Tuscan dialect he championed.
Currently in its fifth edition, Dante Day is held every year on March 25th as that’s the start date of the poet’s journey through the afterlife in The Divine Comedy.
Florentine New Year celebrations
The city of Florence will hold dozens of special cultural events this week as part of yearly celebrations for the Florentine New Year (or Capodanno Fiorentino), which falls on Tuesday, March 25th.
Before switching to the Gregorian calendar, which places the first day of the year on January 1st, Florence marked the official start of its calendar year on March 25th – the day of the Annunciation of the Lord according to Catholic tradition.
Though the switch to January 1st happened in 1749, Florence residents have carried on holding celebrations on March 25th over the centuries, with the original capodanno being one of the most beloved local events to this very day.
Thursday
PM Meloni to attend Ukraine summit in Paris
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni will be in Paris on Thursday, March 27th, to attend a meeting of EU leaders aimed at discussing ceasefire efforts and defence guarantees in Ukraine, as well as European security plans, the Italian government announced on Sunday.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the summit on Thursday.
“We will finalise our work on short-term support for the Ukrainian army, on defending a sustainable and durable Ukrainian army model to prevent Russian invasions, and then on the security guarantees that European armies can provide,” he said.
The meeting will come as European leaders scramble to boost the EU's defence capacities amid drastic changes to US foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
The full list of attendees hasn’t been unveiled yet, but Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that countries who met in London on Sunday, March 2nd, will "probably" be at Thursday's meeting.
Sunday
Clocks go forward
Italy will make the switch to Daylight Saving Time (also known as ora legale in Italian) at 2am on Sunday, March 30th.
Clocks will jump forward by one hour, meaning a lost hour of sleep that night but one more hour of sunlight during the day.
In 2019, the EU voted to scrap Daylight Saving Time by 2021, but the move has been postponed indefinitely.
EasyJet adds three UK-Italy routes
British budget airline EasyJet will launch three new direct UK-Italy routes from Sunday, March 30th.
The new flights will connect Milan Linate with Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Services to and from Manchester and Edinburgh will have daily frequency, whereas flights to and from Birmingham will run twice a week (on Mondays and Fridays).
The new UK links are part of EasyJet’s broader expansion plan in Italy, with the carrier set to launch 24 other new routes to the country over the coming months.
Tickets for the new flights can be purchased on EasyJet's website or mobile app.
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