Hundreds of flights across Italy are canceled amid air transport strike at peak of tourism season

ROME -- Hundreds of flights across Italy were canceled Saturday, forcing travelers at the peak of tourist season to make alternate plans, after air transport unions went ahead with a planned work stoppage two days following a train strike that paralyzed rail service.

Summertime in Italy is often the peak season for transport strikes, stranding commuters and tourists alike as unions press demands for better work contracts and conditions. This year, the strikes are taking their toll amid a tourism boom following two years of pandemic losses.

National carrier ITA said it canceled 133 flights, most of them domestic but a few to European destinations such as Madrid, Amsterdam and Barcelona. Low-cost airlines Ryanair and Vueling canceled dozens of other flights due to the strike from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Striking workers included pilots, flight attendants, baggage handlers and airport personnel.

The website of Naples' airport showed dozens of flights canceled starting at 10 a.m., a similar scene at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport.

”Yeah, it got canceled. It was ITA Airways to Catania," lamented Stefania Spatola from Philadelphia, who was traveling with 35 members of her family. "All our flights got messed up. It’s horrible. It’s really, really horrible.”