Brussels Airlines to cancel up to 80 per cent of flights on Saturday due to strike

Brussels Airlines will have to cancel "around 70 to 80 per cent" of its 112 scheduled flights on Saturday due to a wildcat strike by pilots announced on Friday.

"Brussels Airlines regrets to confirm that most of its flights on Saturday will be cancelled due to the wildcat strike organised by the pilots' unions," the airline said on Friday. 

"Our teams are doing everything possible to get people to their destinations as quickly as possible"

Some 14,000 passengers are booked to fly with Brussels Airlines on Saturday. Passengers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and will be able to request a refund or re-book on another flight. 

"Our teams are doing everything possible to get people to their destinations as quickly as possible, in close cooperation with the other airlines in the Lufthansa Group," said Brussels Airlines spokesman Nico Cardone. 

Cardone expects that part of the travellers who would normally fly elsewhere via Brussels will be able to reach their destination on another Lufthansa airline and "will therefore ultimately experience little or no disruption". 

Earlier on Friday, Brussels Airlines pilots announced a 24-hour strike that will start at 5.00 on Saturday. They are protesting against the non-indexation of a set of additional benefits that pilots receive on top of their regular pay, known as the cafeteria plan.

^{© BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT}