Belgium Transport Strikes Disrupt Travel November 24 to 26

Published on Nov 17, 2025, 8:23 am CST

9 min read

Key points

Belgium's three main trade union confederations will stage national strike action from November 24 to 26 affecting rail airports and urban transport
SNCB rail services face a 72 hour strike from 10:00 p.m. on November 23 through 10:00 p.m. on November 26 cutting many intercity and airport connections
Brussels Airport and Brussels South Charleroi Airport warn of strike related impacts on security and ground handling that may trigger delays cancellations and access issues
Brussels STIB metro tram and bus lines plus De Lijn buses and trams in Flanders expect heavily reduced frequencies throughout the three strike days
Travelers heading to or through Belgium over the November 24 to 26 window should build large time buffers confirm tickets daily and consider rerouting around the strike

Impact

Who Is Affected: Anyone traveling to from or within Belgium between November 24 and 26 especially rail users and passengers connecting via Brussels
Key Hotspots: Brussels Airport Brussels South Charleroi Airport national SNCB rail lines and Brussels and Flanders metro tram and bus networks
Plan Around The Dates: Avoid nonessential travel on November 24 to 26 or move arrivals and departures to dates before November 24 or after November 26 where possible
Build Extra Buffer: If you must travel during the strike window at least double your usual transfer time arrange backup options and keep hotel and flight apps close
Watch For Waivers: Monitor your airline and rail operator for strike related change fee waivers and real time service alerts in the days leading up to departure

Belgium is preparing for a three day wave of coordinated transport strikes from November 24 to 26 that will hit rail services, airport operations, and city transit at the same time, creating serious disruption for residents, commuters, and international travelers. Rail unions have filed a seventy two hour strike notice for the national operator SNCB, while Brussels transit operator STIB, Flemish bus and tram company De Lijn, and airport security and ground handling staff are all planning walkouts tied to the same national protest. If you are due to travel to, from, or within Belgium over this window, you should treat normal timetables as provisional and start lining up backup plans.

The three main union confederations ABVV or FGTB, ACV or CSC, and ACLVB or CGSLB describe the action as a protest against federal budget plans, pension reforms, and cost of living pressures, and they have chosen a format that maximizes leverage by staggering impacts across modes rather than shutting everything on a single day.

Belgium Transport Strike Calendar November 24 To 26

Although final staffing levels will not be clear until the eve of each strike day, the broad calendar is now locked in. Rail unions have served notice for a nationwide strike from Sunday November 23 at 1000 p.m. through Wednesday November 26 at 1000 p.m. local time, which covers the entire Monday to Wednesday window. Parallel actions by public sector and urban transport unions layer additional disruption on top.

Based on current union and operator communications, travelers should expect the following pattern.

On Monday November 24, the focus is on rail and public transport. SNCB expects widespread cancellations and reduced frequencies on core intercity lines, suburban S Train services, and many regional routes, with only a legally required skeleton service in place where minimum staffing standards apply. In Brussels, STIB says the metro, tram, and bus network will be heavily disrupted and is urging riders who can do so to find alternative ways of moving around the city. De Lijn has already warned that bus and tram service across Flanders will be limited throughout all three days, with detailed replacement timetables published in phases.

On Tuesday November 25, unions call a broader strike across public services, which means ongoing pressure on transport plus possible knock on effects in government offices, schools, and municipal services. For travelers, that translates into a second day of unreliable trains and city transit, combined with slower processing at some public counters.

On Wednesday November 26, the action shifts into a full national interprofessional strike, which is expected to pull in workers from multiple sectors and keep SNCB and urban networks under heavy strain until the rail strike notice expires at 10:00 p.m. Some cross border services that rely on Belgian crews or infrastructure may also be affected, so travelers heading to or from France, Germany, or the Netherlands should not assume their train will run normally.

Latest Developments

Belgian transport operators and foreign governments are now publishing traveler facing advisories, signalling that planners see the strike as highly likely to proceed in its current form. The U S Embassy in Belgium has issued a message warning that strikes from November 24 to 26 will affect air travel, public transportation, and airport access, and it urges travelers to allow extra time and follow operator updates closely.

On the rail side, SNCB has activated its standard strike information page, telling passengers to use the journey planner and app for real time confirmation because only trains that are actually operating will appear. STIB has opened a dedicated national strike page promising to publish initial forecasts the evening before each strike day, then confirm which metro, tram, and bus lines will run at reduced frequency around 6:00 a.m. that morning. De Lijn will release modified timetables for its Flemish network on the evenings of November 22, 23, and 24, and it explicitly warns that extra same day cancellations are still possible.

Airports are not immune. Brussels Airport (BRU) is preparing for staffing shortages among security and ground handling teams, and industry briefings note that at least one ground handling firm has already filed strike notices for a twenty four hour period beginning November 24. Brussels Airlines has reportedly preemptively cancelled around seventy flights on strike days and may cut more once mandatory minimum service requirements are set. Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) is considering a shutdown of departures on November 25 if it cannot guarantee enough security staff to screen passengers.

Some airlines are now offering flexibility to get ahead of the disruption. Air Canada, for example, has activated a temporary goodwill policy that lets customers with tickets issued on or before November 11 for travel to, from, or through Brussels on November 25 or 26 shift their trips once, free of change fees, to dates between November 24 and December 3, subject to seat availability in the same cabin. Similar waivers from European carriers are possible if strike impacts widen.

Analysis

For travelers, the main risk is not that Belgium will shut down completely, but that normal redundancy disappears. When trains, metros, trams, and many buses are all unreliable at the same time, the few remaining options like taxis, rideshares, and airport shuttles quickly saturate, which can turn a routine thirty minute transfer into a ninety minute or longer journey. That matters especially for same day flight connections or business trips where you are trying to squeeze multiple appointments into one day in Brussels, Antwerp, or Ghent.

Background

Belgian unions have used rolling and national strikes repeatedly over the past decade to influence budget and labor policy, but this three day format is notable because it layers a seventy two hour rail stoppage on top of a broader national protest. Rail strikes alone can usually be mitigated with extra buses, limited metro service, and more reliance on cars. Here, the overlap with urban operators like STIB and De Lijn sharply curtails those fallback options in the most visited corridors, including the Brussels Airport to city center link and the busy hub around Brussels Midi station, which also handles Eurostar and Thalys style high speed services.

If you are flying into or out of Belgium during the strike window, the first question is whether your flight itself is likely to operate. At the time of writing, there is no nationwide air traffic control strike notice attached to this action, which means most flights should still be able to land and depart. The weak points are ground handling, security screening, and landside access. Reduced security lanes can create long queues and missed departures, and an understaffed baggage or ramp team can slow down turnarounds or force targeted cancellations in peak banks.

The second question is how you get between the airport and your hotel or onward train. The usual pattern of frequent SNCB trains linking Brussels Airport to city stations and regional hubs will be heavily disrupted, and STIB has already said that metro and bus frequencies inside Brussels will be far below normal levels. De Lijn outages will also affect airport related bus lines in Flanders. On top of that, strikes in public services may slow border control and some airport support functions on the middle day of action, even if core security and air traffic services remain staffed.

For travelers already holding tickets, the practical playbook looks like this. First, if your trip is flexible and nonessential, consider moving it entirely outside the November 24 to 26 window or routing via an alternate hub such as Amsterdam or Paris, especially if you rely on tight connections. Second, if you must travel during the strikes, assume that your first plan may fail and build backup options in advance. That can mean booking a cancellable airport hotel the night before an early flight, pre arranging a taxi or private transfer, or identifying car rental and car share options at Brussels Airport and downtown rail hubs.

Third, budget extra time. For most itineraries touching Belgium on those days, doubling your normal buffer is a good baseline, so a usual sixty minute airport transfer becomes at least two hours, and a simple train connection becomes a window with at least one or two alternative departures you are willing to take. Finally, keep a close eye on operator apps and notifications. SNCB, STIB, and De Lijn will push real time updates as they finalize minimum service plans, and airlines are more likely to email or message you if they need volunteers to move off heavily affected days.

Final thoughts

The Belgium transport strikes from November 24 to 26 will not close the country, but they will remove the convenience and predictability that most travelers rely on. With a seventy two hour rail stoppage, heavily disrupted metro, tram, and bus networks, and emerging pressure points at Brussels Airport and Brussels South Charleroi Airport, even a trip that looks simple on paper can become a grind without extra planning. If you are heading to Belgium in that window, treat the strike as a structural constraint, move what you can to calmer dates, and for the journeys that must go ahead, build redundancy, buffers, and clear fallbacks into your plan so that the strikes are an inconvenience rather than a trip breaker.