Belgium Strike Shuts Brussels Airport November 26

Published on Nov 21, 2025, 8:40 am CST

9 min read

Key points

Three day national strike from November 24 to 26 cuts Belgian transport nationwide, with rail disruption starting late November 23
Brussels Airport cancels all departing passenger flights on November 26 because security and handling staff will walk out
Some arriving flights and most public transport links to Brussels Airport and Brussels South Charleroi Airport will also be disrupted
National rail operator SNCB will run only a skeleton timetable, prioritizing some international trains such as Eurostar and Thalys
Air Canada and other airlines have issued limited rebooking waivers, and travelers should proactively move Brussels connections off November 25 and 26
Rerouting via Amsterdam, Paris, or Frankfurt and adding extra buffer for cross border trains will reduce misconnect risk during the strike window

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the worst disruption on November 26 for all departures from Brussels Airport, with significant knock on effects at Brussels South Charleroi Airport and on domestic Belgian rail and city transit from late November 23 onward
Best Times To Travel: Trips that avoid November 25 and 26 entirely or use nearby hubs like Amsterdam, Paris, or Frankfurt instead of Brussels are most likely to run close to schedule
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Self connections through Brussels on November 24 to 26 are high risk, especially if you depend on Belgian trains or trams to bridge between airports, stations, or hotels
Onward Travel And Changes: Move Brussels bound flights and trains outside the strike window where possible, or reroute itineraries through alternate hubs and confirm hotel, tour, and car hire changes in writing
What Travelers Should Do Now: Check airline and rail waivers, contact your carrier or advisor to rebuild Brussels connections, and download operator apps to monitor live schedules and platform changes during the strike

A Brussels Airport strike November 26 will halt all departing flights from Brussels Airport (BRU) for a full day as part of a three day national walkout that hits Belgium's trains, trams, and buses from the night of November 23 through November 26. The shutdown affects travelers who use Brussels as a hub for Europe bound and long haul flights, as well as passengers moving within Belgium by rail or city transit. Anyone routed through Brussels during the strike window should expect cancellations instead of routine delays, add generous buffer time, or shift routes to other European hubs.

In practical terms, the Brussels Airport strike November 26 means that the airport will operate as a partial arrival station with no outbound passenger departures and only limited inbound flights, while the broader transport strike pares down domestic trains and city transit to skeleton levels. This turns what is normally a heavily used hub into a difficult place to start or connect a journey and makes it risky to rely on Belgian trains, trams, and buses to reach or leave the airport during the three day action.

Strike Window And Transport Impacts

Belgium's three major trade union federations have called a coordinated 72 hour action from November 24 to 26 to protest government economic and labour reforms, with rail walkouts starting as early as 10:00 p.m. on November 23. National rail operator SNCB, also known as NMBS, will run only a skeleton timetable and has said that most domestic trains will be canceled, with priority given to some international services such as Eurostar and Thalys, which operate under treaty obligations. SNCB is advising passengers to assume heavy disruption throughout the period, to check its journey planner the day before travel, and to avoid nonessential trips.

In Brussels itself, city transit operator STIB MIVB has warned of significant disruption to metro, tram, and bus services across all three strike days. Riders can expect some lines to stop entirely and others to run at reduced frequency, with detailed information only published shortly before each strike day. The Flemish operator De Lijn and Walloon operator TEC have issued similar alerts for their networks, signaling reduced bus and tram services across Flanders and Wallonia and advising passengers to plan around canceled journeys or to seek alternative transport if possible.

On November 26, the action peaks with a national interprofessional strike that will bring large protests to Brussels and sharply reduce staffing across both public and private sectors. Belgian and international coverage highlight that this final day is when airport operations face the most severe impact, because security screeners and ground handling staff are among those expected to walk out.

Brussels Airport And Other Aviation Impacts

Brussels Airport has confirmed that it will cancel all departing passenger flights on Wednesday, November 26, because it cannot guarantee security screening or baggage handling. The airport is treating the day as a planned shutdown for departures rather than trying to operate a partial schedule, and it has warned that some arriving flights may also be canceled or rerouted depending on airline decisions and crew duty constraints. Airport statements and industry reports stress that airlines will contact affected passengers directly with rebooking or refund options and that travelers should monitor their booking status in apps or on carrier websites.

Secondary airports are not immune. Business travel advisories and airline updates note that Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL), an important base for low cost carriers, will also see significant disruption, with many flights likely canceled or retimed on November 26 and knock on effects on November 24 and 25 as crews and aircraft fall out of rotation. Travelers using Charleroi for budget flights into or out of Belgium should watch for schedule changes and consider shifting to alternative airports if their carrier offers that option.

Several airlines have begun to publish waivers and goodwill policies around the strike. Air Canada, for example, is letting eligible passengers with tickets to, from, or through Brussels on November 25 and 26 rebook once without a change fee for travel between November 24 and December 3, provided they keep the same cabin and travel on Air Canada, United Airlines, or Lufthansa Group partners. Similar flexibility may appear from European carriers as the strike approaches, though details vary by airline and fare type, so travelers should not assume identical terms across the board.

This strike comes only weeks after Belgium had to close several airports, including Brussels Airport, because of coordinated drone sightings, which already stretched the network and disrupted flight schedules. That recent episode means some long haul carriers are balancing fresh operational scars with the new strike risk, another reason why they are choosing to pre cancel and consolidate rather than attempt ad hoc fixes on the day.

Background

National strikes in Belgium typically follow a predictable pattern for transport. Rail operators publish heavily reduced timetables with priority for international or legally protected services, city transit agencies run only a limited set of lines with higher intervals, and airports either scale down or temporarily stop operations if critical categories of staff join the action. Under European Union air passenger rights rules, known as EU261, travelers whose flights are canceled from an EU airport are generally entitled to a choice of rebooking or refund, though cash compensation may not apply if the disruption is clearly linked to industrial action. Similar principles apply in rail, where operators are expected to offer alternative journeys or refunds when they cannot deliver the promised service.

For many travelers, the most practical constraint is not legal rights but logistics. When entire departure banks disappear from Brussels Airport and local trains and trams are slashed, the most realistic solution is often to reframe the itinerary around a different hub or to shift the trip outside the strike window. That is why Brussels Airport, Belgian authorities, and foreign embassies are all urging passengers to act early rather than waiting for airport lines to grow and same day options to vanish.

Rerouting Options Via Nearby Hubs

Because Belgium sits between several major aviation gateways, most long haul and intra European trips can be salvaged by rerouting through a nearby hub. Travelers who originally planned to connect through Brussels can often be rebooked onto flights via Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), or Frankfurt Airport (FRA), all of which offer dense networks across Europe and to North America, Africa, and Asia. Under many alliance and joint venture agreements, airlines have some flexibility to move passengers to partner flights on these routes, though inventory will tighten as the strike dates approach.

The catch is that getting from Belgium to those hubs is itself harder during the strike. Eurostar and Thalys services linking Brussels with Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Cologne are expected to receive priority, but they still depend on SNCB infrastructure and staffing, and operators are warning that some trains may be canceled or run with altered schedules. Cross border travelers should therefore avoid tight back to back flight to train combinations and leave several hours of buffer if they must change modes on the same day.

In some cases, it may make sense to start or end a trip entirely outside Belgium. For example, a traveler from the United States bound for Brussels could rebook into Paris or Amsterdam and then complete the last segment by hire car or pre arranged transfer on a non strike day. Business travelers planning multi city itineraries might opt to base themselves in a nearby city such as Lille, France, or Aachen, Germany, and visit Brussels only after transport has normalized. These workarounds trade some added ground time for a higher chance that flights will operate as planned.

Practical Steps For Travelers

Travelers with Brussels flights on November 26 should first confirm whether their departure has already been canceled and then decide whether to accept the airline's proposed alternative or request an earlier or later date. Those with tickets on November 24 or 25, or with rail connections that rely on Belgian domestic trains, should proactively explore options even if their service still appears as operating, because timetables and staffing may shift with little notice.

Downloading and using airline and rail apps is essential during this kind of disruption, because operators often push schedule changes and boarding information through mobile notifications rather than station or airport announcements. Travelers should also keep hotel, rental car, and local tour providers informed, since changing the gateway or date can ripple into check in times, pickup arrangements, and day trip viability. For complex or multi generational itineraries, working with a travel advisor can save time and reduce the risk of overlooking small but important connections.

Finally, travelers who need to maintain flexibility around late November should consider avoiding Brussels entirely during the strike window, relying instead on other hubs and revisiting Belgium after services stabilize. This is similar to how many travelers had to reroute during the temporary closure of Wroclaw Nicolaus Copernicus Airport for runway works, choosing alternate Polish airports and then using rail or road once the immediate bottleneck passed, and the same principle applies here. For a deeper look at how European labour actions affect trips, see Adept Traveler's wider coverage of airport disruptions and our evergreen guidance on rail and transit strikes in Europe.