Air traffic controllers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport will stop working every night from Wednesday 16 September 2026, following the failure of negotiations over night-shift payments. The industrial action will take place between 10:00 pm and 8:00 am and could continue until the morning of Saturday 10 October 2026. This would amount to ten hours of strike action per night for 24 consecutive nights. The strikes could affect many flights, particularly during the first few days.
The action may especially affect aircraft scheduled to arrive late at night or depart early in the morning. Charleroi Airport is officially closed during part of the night, but some aircraft are still permitted to land during those hours. Disruption to an incoming flight could also affect the aircraft’s next scheduled service. However, no detailed list of delays or cancellations has yet been announced.
The dispute concerns the night allowance received by air traffic controllers. A night allowance is an additional payment for employees required to work during night-time hours. A trade union submitted a strike notice at the end of July, but the planned action did not take place at the time. Several attempts to resolve the disagreement through mediation have since ended without an agreement.
According to Skeyes management, controllers at Charleroi are asking for their night allowance to be increased to 160% of its current level. Management says the existing allowance already exceeds €1,000 per shift. The company has rejected the requested increase. “Skeyes cannot agree to this, given that the airport is closed at night,” management said.
The VSOA trade union disputes that reasoning. Lennert Mervilde, a representative of the union, set out the employees’ position. “The Charleroi air traffic controllers are asking for the same night allowance that applies in other units where a night allowance is paid,” he said. Mervilde also argues that controllers still have responsibilities during the night despite the airport’s official closure.
Mervilde says air traffic continues during the night despite the airport being officially closed. “There is an agreement between Charleroi Airport and Ryanair allowing aircraft based there to still land,” he explained. These aircraft may be returning to Charleroi after completing their final flights of the day. Mervilde added that one aircraft had arrived at 5:20 am during the previous week.
The disagreement is also connected to a wider dispute over the introduction of digital air traffic control towers. In the future, air traffic at Charleroi and Liège airports is expected to be managed from a new digital control centre in Namur. This means controllers will be able to supervise flights at the two Walloon airports from another location instead of working from a traditional tower beside the runway. The planned change has created tensions between Skeyes and some of its air traffic controllers.
Mervilde says strike action is now the only option left after the negotiations broke down. Nevertheless, the union hopes the disruption will remain as limited as possible and is waiting for management to take a new initiative. Skeyes, however, considers the scale of the action disproportionate to the disagreement. “A ten-hour work stoppage every night for 24 consecutive nights could have very significant consequences,” management warned.
Those consequences could extend beyond the flights and passengers directly affected. Skeyes says the strikes may disrupt the operation of Charleroi Airport and the airlines serving it. Airport businesses and employees whose work depends on flight operations could also be affected. It remains unclear whether further negotiations will take place before the first night of industrial action.
