Tuesday: Italian strikes to disrupt European flights and airports

Business travellers heading to or connecting through Italy will see flight delays, cancellations and disruptions Tuesday as a widespread Italian strike takes effect.

The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) details the strikes, which will see eight hours of strikes at airports across the country, including national airline and SkyTeam member Alitalia's hubs at Rome's Fiumicino airport.

Don't speak Italian? In essence, there'll be a general strike across the transportation sector, of eight hours' duration. While the aviation sector is due to be disrupted from 1000 to 1800, FS train services will be hit from 0900 to 1700.

Of course, knock-on delays on Tuesday night and Wednesday are also likely to be found.

If you're heading to Italy, or connecting on Alitalia, see whether your tickets can be changed to another airline.

With several SkyTeam alliance airlines based in nearby countries (including Air France, KLM, Czech Airlines and Air Europa) you may have luck suggesting a connection through Paris Charles de Gaulle or Amsterdam Schipol instead.

Be prepared for wider disruption throughout Europe too -- the intricately connected European transport network has a habit of collapsing when part of it is taken out.

If your flight is likely to be disrupted, take a look through our checklist for minimising travel difficulties if you think your plans might go awry before you leave home.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.