Italy’s Big Strike Weekend: 20–22 November, Plus Italo Trains on Monday

Italy has the fullest strike calendar in Europe this month, and it builds to one heavy weekend: a general strike on Friday 20 November, a national rail strike running into Saturday, and three airport strikes on Sunday 22 November. There is also an earlier date to know about — Italo high-speed trains are struck this Monday, 9 November.

Monday 9 November — Italo trains. Two separate strike calls cover Italo (NTV) crews: Uiltrasporti from 02:00 to 23:59, and FILT-CGIL, FIT-CISL, UGL Ferrovieri, FAST-CONFSAL and ORSA Trasporti from 09:01 to 16:59. This is Italo only. Trenitalia’s Frecce trains are not part of this strike and run as normal. Italo publishes its own list of trains that will still run before the strike day — check italotreno.com, and if your train is not on the list, a Frecciarossa on the same route is the obvious backup.

Friday 20 November — CGIL general strike. The CGIL confederation has proclaimed a full-day general strike across public and private sectors. Transport unions will announce sector-by-sector arrangements closer to the day, and essential services are guaranteed by law.

Friday 20 November 21:00 → Saturday 21 November 20:00 — national rail strike. Called by CUB Trasporti and SGB against every rail company in Italy. In practice, Friday evening’s last trains and almost everything on Saturday are in the danger zone. On weekdays, Trenitalia guarantees regional trains in the 06:00–09:00 and 18:00–21:00 windows, and publishes a table of long-distance trains that will run — look for it on trenitalia.com before travelling.

Sunday 22 November — three airport strikes, all 24 hours. Air traffic control staff strike at Milan Malpensa, security staff strike at Venice Marco Polo, and airport staff strike at Pisa and Florence. Even on strike days, flights due to depart between 07:00–10:00 and 18:00–21:00 must operate under Italian rules, and ENAC publishes a guaranteed-flights list for each strike.

Also in November: Naples Airport is closed all month. This one is not a strike. Capodichino Airport is shut from 1 to 30 November for a runway rebuild, with flights moved to Salerno Costa d’Amalfi, to Rome, or cancelled. If you are flying to Naples in November, check the airport code on your ticket — NAP, QSR and FCO are very different journeys. Reopening is expected on 1 December.

City strikes worth knowing: Milan’s ATM metro, tram and bus network has a 24-hour strike on Friday 13 November, Venice’s ATVO buses (including airport buses) strike the same day, and Naples’ ANM network stops from 11:00–15:00 on Monday 16 November.

StrikeWatch checks Italy’s official strike register daily and will update this article if any of these calls are postponed or called off — which, in Italy, happens often.

Sources: Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport strike register (scioperi.mit.gov.it) and Strike Guarantee Commission calendar, via eSIM Lounge’s register-checked calendar (updated 3 November 2026) and FTN News.