Italy Has Booked a Strike for Nearly Every Week of November

Travelers heading to Italy this month will want to keep a strike calendar open next to their itinerary. A published November schedule lists walkouts on dates from the 6th through the 22nd, touching air traffic control, intercity rail, city transport and airport security. Many are local or short, but a few could reshape a trip.

The big ones come late in the month. Friday, November 20 is listed as a CGIL general strike across public and private sectors, with a rail strike by smaller unions starting that evening and running to roughly 8 pm on Saturday. Also on Saturday, November 21, a nationwide air traffic control strike is scheduled from 1 pm to 5 pm, and some cities, including Turin and Naples, face local transport stoppages.

Earlier dates are narrower. Italo’s nationwide rail strike is listed for November 9 between 9:01 am and 4:59 pm, and November 6 brings a four-hour air traffic control stoppage at Bari. Venice’s airport buses and Milan’s city transport are listed for November 13, Naples public transport for November 16, and on November 22 Malpensa air traffic control and Venice Marco Polo security staff are set to strike for 24 hours.

Treat the dates as provisional. The compiling outlet notes the calendar has shifted several times and that only the November 20 general strike appears fully confirmed in at least one tracker. Italian rules require guaranteed flight windows, roughly 7 to 10 am and 6 to 9 pm, and the civil aviation authority publishes a list of protected flights, so check it and your airline before you travel.

Sources: Travel Tourister, The Leader