Travelers across Italy are facing another day of disruption as a fresh wave of cancellations and delays ripples through the country’s busiest hubs. On Monday, January 5, more than 40 flights were cancelled and over 100 delayed at airports serving Rome, Milan, and Venice, affecting services operated by KLM, easyJet, Vueling, ITA Airways, and several other major European and low cost carriers.

The knock-on impact has left passengers stranded in terminals, scrambling to rebook itineraries, and confronting long queues at customer service desks during what was expected to be a busy early January travel period.

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Disruptions Concentrated at Rome, Milan, and Venice Hubs

The latest bout of operational turbulence is concentrated at three major gateway cities: Rome, Milan, and Venice. Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport at Fiumicino, Italy’s largest international hub, has reported multiple cancellations and extended delays on short and medium haul routes, particularly on services to northern Europe and key Schengen destinations.

Passengers on early morning departures found themselves facing rolling delay notifications, with some flights ultimately grounded as airlines adjusted schedules.

In Milan, both Malpensa and Linate have been hit, continuing a pattern of disruption that has repeatedly affected the northern city’s dual airport system in recent months.

Malpensa, the main long haul and low cost platform for the region, has again recorded among the highest delay totals in the country, affecting a broad mix of carriers including easyJet and other European airlines that rely heavily on the airport as a regional base.

Linate, the city airport closer to Milan’s business district, has seen cancellations more concentrated among full service network operators, including KLM and ITA Airways.

Venice Marco Polo Airport, the primary international gateway for the Veneto region and a key arrival point for leisure travelers heading to the lagoon city, is also experiencing a cluster of cancellations and delays.

Even a smaller number of grounded flights in Venice has an outsized impact, given the airport’s role in connecting tourists and cruise passengers to wider European and intercontinental networks.

Airlines Most Affected: KLM, easyJet, Vueling, and ITA Airways

Among the airlines hardest hit, KLM, easyJet, Vueling, and Italy’s own ITA Airways are reporting the most visible service disruptions across the three metropolitan areas. Data from Italian airport operations show that KLM has had to cancel multiple rotations at Milan Linate and Bologna in recent days, and those schedule adjustments are still reverberating through Monday’s operations.

This has affected links between Italy and KLM’s Amsterdam Schiphol hub, forcing some passengers to be rerouted through other European gateways or shifted to later flights.

easyJet, one of the largest operators at Milan Malpensa and a significant presence at Naples and other Italian airports, is again at the center of the disruption. Recent figures from domestic aviation reports highlighted double digit cancellations and dozens of delays for the carrier at Malpensa alone, along with further issues at Naples.

Those irregularities have created a backlog of displaced passengers and aircraft that is still working its way through the system and contributing to Monday’s wave of schedule changes.

Vueling and ITA Airways are also implicated in the broader network strain. ITA, which has been focusing operations around Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate following its withdrawal from Malpensa, has been juggling aircraft and crews amid a challenging winter operating environment and ongoing industrial and infrastructure constraints in the Italian market.

Vueling, with a strong presence on leisure routes linking Italy to Spain and France, has seen knock-on delays where aircraft and crews have been out of position due to earlier cancellations elsewhere in Europe.

Underlying Causes: From Strikes and Staffing to Systemic Strain

The immediate disruption on January 5 comes against a backdrop of mounting structural pressure on Italy’s aviation system. Over the past year, Italian airports have repeatedly been hit by a combination of national and regional strikes, infrastructure glitches, and post pandemic staffing imbalances.

Nationwide airport and ground handling strikes in July 2025 and a series of walkouts in late 2025 left carriers and airports grappling with large scale rescheduling, while passengers faced hundreds of cancellations spread over multiple days.

In addition, technical issues have periodically exposed the fragility of the network. A radar connectivity failure at Milan’s area control center in June 2025 forced a temporary shutdown of sections of northern Italian airspace, halting departures and arrivals at major northern airports and generating a domino effect of delays and aircraft displacements that lasted into the following day.

While Monday’s situation does not appear tied to a single technical fault of that magnitude, airlines and air traffic managers are still dealing with a system that has little slack and limited resilience.

Industrial relations remain another complicating factor. Ground handling staff, cabin crews, and sector unions have staged a series of coordinated actions over the past months to press demands on wages, job security, and working conditions.

Even on days without formal strikes, the residue of those disputes continues to weigh on staff availability, overtime flexibility, and the willingness of crews to absorb last minute operational changes. When this interacts with winter weather, high travel demand, or aircraft maintenance bottlenecks, the result is exactly the kind of multi airport disruption Italy is witnessing again today.

Passenger Experience: Long Queues, Frayed Tempers, and Limited Options

For travelers on the ground at Fiumicino, Malpensa, Linate, and Marco Polo, the statistics translate into very tangible frustrations. Early morning scenes at departure halls showed long lines forming at airline service counters as passengers attempted to rebook or seek clarification on vague delay messages.

With multiple carriers affected simultaneously, information desks quickly became congested and call centers were overwhelmed, leaving many passengers depending on airline apps and departure boards that changed by the minute.

Families traveling with children, elderly passengers, and tourists with fixed tour or cruise departures were among those worst hit, particularly at Venice and Rome where itinerary timing is often tightly choreographed.

Some travelers, particularly those with nonrefundable hotel bookings or onward train tickets, faced out of pocket expenses that may or may not be recoverable depending on the cause of the delay and the airline’s compensation policies.

Accommodation has emerged as an additional pressure point. With disruptions extending across several Italian airports simultaneously, nearby hotels reported elevated demand from passengers stranded overnight, echoing scenes usually associated with snowstorms or major strikes.

In some cases, travelers reported being offered vouchers only for limited availability properties, forcing others to search independently for rooms in urban centers like Milan or Rome and then return to the airport early the next morning.

Wider Impact on Italy’s Tourism and Business Travel

The timing of the disruption is particularly sensitive for Italy’s tourism and corporate travel sectors. Early January marks the tail end of the holiday season, when international visitors mix with domestic travelers returning from Christmas and New Year trips. It is also a period when business travel begins to ramp back up after the holiday lull.

With Rome, Milan, and Venice all core pillars of the country’s tourism and economic landscape, any significant disruption at their airports quickly reverberates through hotels, tour operators, conference venues, and local transport providers.

In Milan, a city that relies heavily on fast, reliable air links to European financial centers, extended delays and repeated cancellations can disrupt meetings, trade fairs, and high value corporate travel.

Rome and Venice, for their part, risk reputational damage among international tourists if images of overcrowded terminals and long check in queues become associated with travel to Italy at the start of the year. Industry insiders note that the country has already battled perceptions of unreliability following last year’s nationwide airport strike and subsequent waves of delays at key hubs.

Tourism boards and local authorities are watching closely, aware that recurring travel chaos can influence traveler decision making when choosing destinations and flight routings.

While Italy’s cultural draw remains strong, a pattern of repeated operational meltdowns could push some visitors to route via other European hubs or even shift short break plans to alternative cities where air travel has appeared more stable.

How Airlines and Airports Are Responding

Airlines affected by Monday’s cancellations and delays have been activating their standard disruption protocols, including rebooking passengers on later flights, rerouting via alternative hubs, and in some cases providing hotel accommodation and meal vouchers.

Carriers such as KLM and easyJet have leaned heavily on digital channels, encouraging travelers to make changes through apps and websites rather than queuing at customer service desks, in an effort to reduce congestion at the airports.

ITA Airways, which is mid way through its integration into the Lufthansa Group, faces the dual challenge of maintaining operational reliability while adjusting its network strategy around Rome and Milan.

The carrier has signaled that it is working closely with airport operators and ground handling partners to stabilize schedules, but the broader labor environment and infrastructure constraints limit the pace at which redundancy can be built into the system.

Airport authorities at Fiumicino, Malpensa, Linate, and Marco Polo have focused on crowd management, signage, and communication, seeking to keep passengers informed and minimize bottlenecks at security and passport control.

They have also been coordinating with Italy’s civil aviation authority to monitor the situation, prioritize certain categories of flights where possible, and ensure that essential services, including flights to and from island regions, are protected where required.

What Travelers Should Do If Flying To or From Italy Now

Passengers scheduled to fly into or out of Rome, Milan, or Venice on January 5 and the days immediately following are being urged to check their flight status frequently and to remain flexible. Given the volume of cancellations and delays already logged across the network, even flights that appear to be operating on time could be vulnerable to late crew or aircraft arrivals.

Travelers are advised to arrive early at the airport, especially for morning and early afternoon departures, to allow for longer than usual check in and security processing times.

Travel experts recommend that passengers make use of airline mobile apps and official communication channels rather than relying solely on third party booking sites or generic flight trackers.

Where a disruption does occur, rebooking through digital channels can be significantly faster than waiting in line at a crowded service desk. Those with tight connections, fixed event schedules, or nonflexible accommodation plans might also consider proactively adjusting itineraries to build in additional buffer time or routing through less congested hubs where feasible.

For travelers still planning future trips to Italy, the current situation serves as a reminder to review fare conditions, travel insurance coverage, and airline compensation rules before purchasing tickets.

Policies can vary widely between carriers and ticket types, particularly when disruptions are linked to strikes or external factors, and understanding those differences before departure can help avoid unpleasant surprises when schedules go awry.

FAQ

Q1. Which airports in Italy are most affected by the latest cancellations and delays?
Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport at Fiumicino, Milan’s Malpensa and Linate airports, and Venice Marco Polo Airport are the primary hubs affected, with additional knock on issues reported at other Italian airports as schedules are adjusted.

Q2. Which airlines are experiencing the most disruption today?
KLM, easyJet, Vueling, and ITA Airways are among the carriers most visibly affected, alongside other European network and low cost airlines operating dense schedules through Rome, Milan, and Venice.

Q3. How many flights have been cancelled or delayed?
Across the Italian network on January 5, operational data indicate more than 40 cancellations and well over 100 delays linked to services involving major airports in Rome, Milan, and Venice, with further minor disruptions at secondary airports.

Q4. What is causing these disruptions across Italian airports?
The latest disruption reflects a combination of ongoing structural strain in Italy’s aviation system, including residual effects of recent strikes, staffing and ground handling pressures, and tight winter schedules that leave little room to absorb delays.

Q5. What rights do passengers have if their flight is cancelled?
Passengers departing from or arriving in the European Union typically have rights under EU air passenger regulations, which may include rebooking, refunds, meals, and in some cases financial compensation, depending on the cause of the disruption and the length of the delay.

Q6. Are airlines providing hotel accommodation for stranded travelers?
In many cases airlines are offering hotel stays and meal vouchers to eligible passengers whose flights have been cancelled or severely delayed, but availability can be limited when multiple carriers are affected at the same time, so some travelers may need to arrange their own lodging and seek reimbursement later.

Q7. How can travelers best stay informed about their flight status?
Passengers are advised to use airline mobile apps, sign up for text or email alerts, and monitor airport departure boards, as these channels tend to be updated more quickly and accurately than third party booking sites or generic flight tracking tools.

Q8. Should passengers heading to Italy this week change their plans?
Most flights are still operating, but travelers with tight connections, time sensitive events, or nonrefundable reservations may wish to build in additional buffer time, consider alternative routings, or speak with their airline or travel advisor about flexible options.

Q9. Are similar disruptions likely to continue in the coming weeks?
Given the recent pattern of strikes, technical issues, and staffing challenges in Italy and across parts of Europe, intermittent disruptions remain possible, particularly during peak travel days, although the scale of impact can vary significantly from one day to the next.

Q10. What practical steps can passengers take if their flight is affected?
Passengers should immediately contact their airline through the app or website to explore rebooking, keep receipts for any out of pocket expenses, review their travel insurance coverage, and remain at the airport until they have confirmed alternative arrangements or clear guidance from the carrier.