Europe's travel strikes: Flight and train disruption you can expect in February and March

27.02.2024 - 01:21 / euronews.com / Airlines / Can Expect

Strikes are a regular occurrence in Europe, as employees withhold their labour to fight for better pay and conditions.

Walkouts are sometimes planned months ahead but others are announced last minute, showing that it always pays to check before you travel.

Luckily, we have gathered all of the strike information together below.

Read on to find out where and when are walkouts taking place.

If your flight or train is cancelled or delayed, you will be entitled to a new ticket or compensation. Read our guide for the full details.

90,000 employees from local transport companies in Germany are striking on various days from 26 February-1 March.

1 March will see the most disruption. Check local transport websites for full details.

The strikes have been called by German union Ver.di. In addition to the introduction of a 35-hour week, the union is demanding that the length of shifts be limited to a maximum of ten hours. They also want the minimum rest period between shifts extended to twelve hours.

Rail travel across Spain will be severely disrupted this month as staff walkout in the first half of March.

There will be three days of 24-hour strikes on 1, 4 and 12 March.

There are also further walkouts planned throughout the day on 6 March from 7am to 10am, from 1pm to 4pm, and from 7pm to 10pm.

The stoppage has been called by Renfe drivers who are members of the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf). They are striking over non-compliance with contract clauses concerning working hours and the freezing of their employment plan.

During February train strikes in Spain, hundreds of trains were cancelled but a skeleton service still operates. Under Spanish law, a minimum service must be maintained.

London Overground strikes will take place on 4-5 March, union RMT has announced.

The 48-hour walkouts by security, station, revenue and control staff come after RMT members rejected a below-inflation pay offer. 

Members of the Aslef union called strikes and an overtime ban earlier this month.

The walkouts impacted several different operators, including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, GTR, LNER, Southeastern, SWR and TransPennine Trains.

Train drivers are in a long-running dispute over pay, which they say has not increased in five years. 

Disruption is expected on the Ile-de-France bus and metro network as CGT-RATP has announced a seven-month strike notice from 5 February to 9 September.

Workers at the state-owned public transport company say they are walking out over pay. Strikes could hit during the Paris 2024 Olympics if a deal is not reached.

If you know of a big strike happening in your country that we have missed, we'd love to hear from you via Twitter.