Italy And Greece Brace For Widespread Airport Chaos As Easter Strikes Threaten To Ground Flights And Paralyze Travel Across Europe

Published on April 4, 2025

Italy and Greece face major Easter travel chaos as powerful aviation strikes threaten to disrupt flights, delay holidays, and impact thousands of passengers.

Aviation Strikes in Italy and Greece to Disrupt Easter Holiday Travel Plans Across Europe

Travelers heading to southern Europe for Easter may face major flight disruptions, as aviation strikes are set to unfold in both Italy and Greece during one of the busiest holiday travel periods of the year.

Italy and Greece—two of the top sun-soaked destinations for UK holidaymakers—are bracing for industrial action as unions representing aviation staff plan walkouts that coincide with school holidays and Easter travel surges.

In Italy, EasyJet cabin crew will stage a nationwide strike on April 9, walking off the job for four hours between 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM local time. The strike is expected to impact several key airports, including those in Milan and Naples, potentially leading to delays and cancellations.

This latest walkout follows a similar four-hour strike by EasyJet pilots just weeks ago, as tensions continue to rise over employment terms, pay scales, and working conditions. During the earlier action, Italian airports warned passengers to expect disruptions—warnings that now resurface with renewed urgency.

Pilots from the Italian carrier Aeroitalia also participated in the previous protest, underscoring broader discontent among European aviation workers about industry standards and labor conditions.

April 9 will also see simultaneous disruption in Greece, as air traffic controllers join a 24-hour nationwide strike called by the ADEDY public sector union. The Greek protest is expected to heavily affect commercial flight operations in and out of the country, another blow to Easter travel plans.

ADEDY is demanding wage increases, reinstatement of holiday bonuses, and urgent solutions to Greece’s worsening housing crisis. The union has ramped up pressure on the government following earlier strikes that brought the country’s airspace to a standstill.

This latest protest echoes the large-scale general strike held in February, when Greek air traffic controllers participated in a nationwide demonstration that halted nearly all flight activity. That strike was driven by public outrage over the Tempe train disaster, in which 57 people lost their lives after a tragic head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train.

The incident highlighted serious flaws in Greece’s rail safety systems and led to the resignation of the transport minister, adding to ongoing tensions within the nation’s transportation sector.

With labor unrest spreading across Europe’s aviation landscape, travelers heading to Italy or Greece during Easter should prepare for possible disruptions and check with airlines for real-time updates. The coordinated strikes underscore ongoing frustrations within the aviation workforce, especially during peak seasons when demand for travel is at its highest.