Hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled in Italy as winter weather batters Europe

Italian airports faced widespread disruption on Tuesday and Wednesday as severe winter weather caused flight delays and cancellations across Europe.

Knock-on effects from chaos at major European hubs added to weather-related problems meant airports in Rome, Milan, Venice, Bologna and Florence reported some 500 delays and more than two dozen cancellations.

Milan’s Malpensa handled around ten diverted flights from Bergamo, where a technical fault combined with fog caused major disruption from Friday.

KLM, Wizz Air, easyJet, Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa were among the carriers most affected, according to Italian media reports.

Passengers storm runway at Brindisi

Dramatic scenes unfolded at Brindisi airport, in Puglia, where around 400 passengers on two Wizz Air flights bound for Tirana were diverted due to bad weather over the Albanian capital.

Police were called after around 150 of the stranded passengers breached security barriers and occupied part of the runway on Wednesday, demanding to continue their journey.

READ ALSO: Europe faces transport chaos as deadly cold snap persists

After hours of negotiations, around 250 passengers agreed to travel to Albania by ferry from Brindisi port. Another 39 were transferred by bus to Rome Fiumicino to catch alternative flights.

Wizz Air said it had “provided full assistance to the passengers involved” and that the diversions were “caused by adverse weather conditions beyond the airline’s control”.

Airport management Aeroporti di Puglia said no scheduled flights were cancelled or delayed as a result of the protest.

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The disruption at Italian airports was part of a broader wave of winter weather chaos across Europe.

Airports in Paris and Amsterdam were the worst affected, with the Dutch authorities saying more than 1,000 travellers had been forced to spend the night at Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest hubs.

Six people have died in weather-related accidents as the continent reels from the most bitter cold snap of the winter so far.

Five of those deaths were confirmed in France on Tuesday, while a woman died in Bosnia as heavy snow and rain sparked floods and power outages across the Balkans.

Strikes add to travel chaos

Rail passengers in Emilia-Romagna also faced rail travel disruption on Tuesday, with an unplanned eight-hour strike hitting regional services run by all operators from 9am to 5pm.

Six unions called the walkout after train conductor Alessandro Ambrosio, 34, was stabbed to death at Bologna Centrale station on Monday evening. A 36-year-old Croatian man was arrested in connection with the killing on Tuesday.

Further problems were expected later this week, with planned strikes along with a new cold front forecast for the weekend.

Friday January 9th will bring further disruption to air transport, with ground handling staff, easyJet cabin crew and Vueling staff planning to strike.