ENAV strike Italy 21-22 November 2026: Malpensa and Venice

1. The calendar: four register entries, three scopes

The ministry’s strike register was checked on 11 October 2026 at 4:00 pm. It lists four entries between Friday 20 and Sunday 22 November (entries 25 to 28). The table has five rows, because the local transport line falls under the rail entry 25. Rows run in date order. The « Scope » column shows what the register says, and the « Airport or line » column shows where each action actually touches travellers.

Source: the strike register of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, checked on 11 October 2026 at 4:00 pm.

Three rows of this table matter most for a traveller. On Saturday, the rail strike and the air strike overlap: trains are hit until 8:00 pm, while air traffic control is hit from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. On Sunday, the air action targets Malpensa according to the ScioperiItalia listing, and the Venice strike hits the security checkpoints, not air traffic control. 6 November isn’t on this calendar: an ENAV action of 4 hours is on the register for that date, but only for Bari airport. We come back to it in the section on what other guides don’t tell you.

A quick word on the union names. Italy has several national union confederations, and each sector has its own federations. FILT-CGIL and UGL-TA are the transport arms of the CGIL and UGL confederations. CUB Trasporti and SGB Ferrovie are grassroots unions. FAST-CONFSAL is the air transport federation of CONFSAL, and RSA stands for a local workplace union representative. FISASCAT is the services and tourism federation of CISL, which is why OST FISASCAT-CISL appears against the Venice security action. The name in the register tells you who called the strike. It doesn’t tell you how many people will walk out.

2. Venice Marco Polo on 22 November: a security strike, not air traffic control

Marco Polo, Sunday 22 November

from €263.50 for 2 adults Sunday 22 November Strike from midnight to 11:59 pm Viator duration: 45 minutes

On 22 November, security staff at Venice’s Marco Polo airport are called to stop work for 24 hours, from midnight to 11:59 pm. The ministry register lists this action among the air actions, but it doesn’t touch air traffic control or ENAV. It concerns staff of the company Sicuritalia IVRI, called by the union organisation OST FISASCAT-CISL and proclaimed on 5 October 2026, according to the register. The sources we checked report no flight cancellations linked to this action: its expected effect is longer queues at the security checkpoint. The compensation position for a security strike carried out by a contractor hasn’t been checked, and it falls neither under ENAV nor under the airline.

For anyone landing at or leaving Marco Polo that Sunday, the practical question is getting into the city. ACTV Aerobus Linea 5 runs from the airport to Piazzale Roma in about 25 minutes, for €8 a trip according to a secondary source you should check on the Venezia Unica site. The private transfer below takes you by car to Piazzale Roma and then by private boat to your hotel. It costs a lot more than the shuttle, but it removes the connections you’d otherwise have to juggle. The catch: the journey happens in two stages, so it depends on two forms of transport on the same day.

Highlights

• Pick-up at the airport and drop-off at your hotel, with no connections to organise
• Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure, per the product page
• Instant confirmation at booking

Pixidia tip: book early, and confirm the pick-up time with the operator the day before. Availability was checked on 11 October 2026 for 21 and 22 November. It can change before then, so reconfirm when you book.

Private transfer from Marco Polo airport to your hotel, by car and boat from €263.50 for 2 adults (€131.75 per person), 21 and 22 November 2026 · ★ 4.6 (175 reviews)

Check the transfer and book

If you only arrive in Venice for the day, the access fee is another thing to check before you leave. Our guide to the tourist tax for day-trippers covers the current rules. The most useful advice for 22 November is to leave extra time: allow for a security queue that may be longer than usual.

3. Milan Malpensa on 22 November: the real risk for flights

A 24-hour ENAV strike, with no revocation as of the check

Milan Malpensa (per ScioperiItalia) Sunday 22 November 12:01 am to midnight No revocation as of 11 October

The action the register lists for Malpensa is a 24-hour strike by ENAV controllers, from 12:01 am to midnight. It was proclaimed by the local union representative FAST-CONFSAL-AV. The ScioperiItalia listing, checked on 11 October 2026 at 4:00 pm, says « Nessuna revoca », meaning no revocation.

One detail matters for the scope. The register classes the entry as « National », but its note also mentions guaranteed flights at Bari. The ScioperiItalia listing names only Malpensa for the Sunday ENAV action, the register’s note also mentions Bari, and ENAC’s nominal list isn’t published. So we treat Malpensa as the decision point, without claiming that no other airport is affected.

ENAC’s rules set which flights keep running during a strike. For departures scheduled in the morning and evening, the guaranteed windows are 7:00 am to 10:00 am and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. A flight scheduled outside those windows isn’t guaranteed. A guaranteed window isn’t a guaranteed flight, though: the nominal list ENAC publishes for each action is the one that counts. On the date we checked, that list for 22 November hadn’t been published yet.

ENAC’s rules also cap the first action in a dispute at 4 hours, and any later action at one day at most. The register shows 24 hours for Malpensa on 22 November. We don’t resolve that gap here: it needs confirming against the list ENAC publishes before the action.

Highlights

• Flights scheduled between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, or between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm, fall inside the guaranteed window
• ENAC publishes a nominal list of guaranteed flights before each action
• The register names only Malpensa for the Sunday ENAV action, with a caveat on Bari

Pixidia tip: check your flight with the airline as soon as ENAC publishes its list, and keep a fallback open until departure. If your flight doesn’t fall inside a guaranteed window, plan a change of date or route early rather than on the day.

4. Saturday 21 November: the 4-hour national ENAV strike

1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, all of Italy’s air traffic control

National Saturday 21 November 4 hours Malpensa and Venice affected

The Saturday 21 November action is a national air traffic control strike, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. FILT-CGIL and UGL-TA proclaimed it, according to the ministry register and the ScioperiItalia listing, which shows a proclamation on 23 September 2026. Flights to and from Malpensa, and to and from Venice, fall within the same scope. This isn’t the closure of an airport: it’s a drop in control capacity during the window, and the delays it causes can spill past 5 pm into the rest of the day.

Four hours sounds short, but the 2026 precedents show what this kind of action can do. On 10 April, a four-hour ENAV and Techno Sky strike was followed, according to the press, by about 27% of ITA Airways flights being cancelled. On 30 September, an action of the same kind came with, again according to the press, about 29% cancellations at the same airline. These are press figures: we didn’t find an ITA statement confirming them. The table below therefore attributes them to the press.

Highlights

• A short window, but a national action that covers every airport in the country
• ENAC’s guaranteed flights only cover the morning and evening slots
• According to the press, the 4-hour actions of 10 April and 30 September were followed by large cancellation numbers at ITA (about 27% and 29%, with no ITA statement confirming them)

Pixidia tip: if your flight leaves or lands between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm on Saturday, don’t count on it. Check the airline’s app that morning, and allow for disruption beyond the window.

Source: specialist press (Sicurauto, 10 April and 30 September 2026; Legnanonews, 4 July 2026, for the union figures), checked on 11 October 2026. The 5 July sector hasn’t been checked against the register or the ENAC PDF.

The reasons behind these strikes don’t appear in the register we checked, and we didn’t find a primary source that explains them. So we don’t repeat them here.

5. Trains on 20 and 21 November: the rail strike and fallback routes

Milan Centrale, the Malpensa Express and the line to Venice

23 hours of rail strike From Fri 9:00 pm to Sat 8:00 pm Malpensa Express: €15 About 51 minutes

A 23-hour rail strike hits the network from Friday 20 November at 9:00 pm until Saturday 21 November at 8:00 pm. CUB Trasporti and SGB Ferrovie proclaimed it, according to the register (entry 25). The register also says that all local transport services on 21 November are affected for the companies on its list. We haven’t checked the full list, so we don’t name any company.

For Malpensa from Milan, the Malpensa Express is the rail link dedicated to the airport. Trenord gives about 51 minutes from Milano Centrale, for €15 one way. The line’s official site gives other journey times, 43 or 57 minutes depending on the route. According to that site, trains run every 30 minutes, with a first departure from Milano Centrale at 5:25 am and a last one at 11:25 pm. Sources don’t agree on these times everywhere, so check the day’s timetable on trenord.it and malpensaexpress.it before you leave.

For Venice, the train is listed at roughly 2 hours 15 to 2 hours 30, according to secondary sources. No official timetable confirms that. Saturday 21 isn’t a good day to choose rail. Buses, however, aren’t affected by the rail strike: FlixBus from Milano Lampugnano takes about 3 hours 5 to 3 hours 30, according to Omio and Rome2Rio. It usually drops you at Mestre rather than central Venice, so check that on your ticket. RFI works between Vicenza and Grisignano from 6 to 30 October 2026, well outside the weekend. Don’t add a delay to your November trip on that basis.

Highlights

• Trenitalia, according to a secondary source to confirm, refunds a cancelled train ticket in full if you ask before departure
• Italo, according to the specialist press (to confirm on its site): a list of guaranteed trains and a toll-free number, 060708
• Buses aren’t affected by the rail strike

Pixidia tip: for a Trenitalia refund, the source we checked is secondary (Affaritaliani). Confirm the process on the operator’s site before you rely on it. For a regional train, the deadlines vary, and your ticket conditions come first.

Source: the websites of the operators named, plus estimates from Rome2Rio and Omio, checked on 11 October 2026. These fares and times are indicative and don’t replace the operators’ own sites.

6. Your rights: Regulation 261/2004 during an air traffic control strike

Regulation (EC) 261/2004 is still the text that applies. It sets flat-rate compensation of €250 for flights up to 1,500 km, €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and €600 beyond that, when arrival is delayed by at least 3 hours or the flight is cancelled under the conditions of its Article 5 (EUR-Lex, Regulation 261/2004, checked on 11 October 2026).

If your flight leaves an Italian airport, the EU rules apply whatever your nationality. If you’re flying out of the UK, the UK’s retained version of the same regulation, UK261, is the one that applies.

A control strike organised by unions outside the airline is generally treated as an extraordinary circumstance under Article 5(3). If that applies, the airline doesn’t have to pay the flat-rate compensation. It still has to offer a refund or re-routing (Article 8), plus care: meals, and a hotel if a night is required (Article 9). The question remains legally open for air traffic control strikes.

Case law separates a strike by the airline’s own staff from one by outside unions. Judgment C-28/20 (Airhelp v SAS) is summarised by the CMS firm as treating a strike by the airline’s own staff as not exempting it. We haven’t been able to read the judgment itself, only that summary, so cite the point with care.

A revision of the regulation reached a provisional agreement on 15 June 2026. According to the Clyde & Co firm, the 3-hour threshold and the €250, €400 and €600 amounts are kept. Formal adoption hadn’t been published in the Official Journal at the date we checked. So calling it a « revised regulation » today would be premature: the 2004 text still applies.

To claim, keep receipts for meals and accommodation, and ask the airline in writing which option it offers: refund or re-routing. If the answer doesn’t work for you, ENAC and consumer associations are the bodies to contact.

7. The weekend, day by day

Whatever your route, the order of decisions stays the same: confirm your flight or train, check the guaranteed list when it appears, and keep a fallback until the last moment. No Italian public holiday falls on these dates, so the strikes hit an ordinary weekend.

• By 19 November. Our suggestion: check the ministry register and watch for the guaranteed-flights list ENAC publishes for each action. It appears before each action, with no fixed deadline.
• Friday 20 November. If you need a train on Saturday, check Trenitalia’s or Italo’s list of guaranteed trains, and keep a bus as an option.
• Saturday 21 November, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm. If your flight leaves or lands in this window, check the airline’s app that morning and allow extra time for the day.
• Sunday 22 November. At Malpensa, flights scheduled within ENAC’s guaranteed windows (7:00 am to 10:00 am and 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm) are guaranteed, according to ENAC. The nominal list wasn’t published at the check date. At Venice, allow more time at security.

What other guides don’t tell you

These points come from the official sources.

• There is no national ENAV strike on 6 November 2026. Some travel guides list one, but the register shows only a 4-hour action at Bari for that date, interregional, with no effect on Malpensa or Venice. Ministry register (checked on 11 October 2026).
• Guaranteed windows for planes aren’t the same as for trains. For flights, ENAC guarantees departures scheduled between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, and between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Rail rules are different and don’t apply to planes. ENAC, guaranteed flights (updated 28 September 2026, checked on 11 October 2026).
• The revised Regulation 261 isn’t in force. Some consumer guides present it as a new rule. The 2004 text still applies until formal adoption is published. Clyde & Co, June 2026 (checked on 11 October 2026).
• The Venice strike on 22 November isn’t an air traffic control strike. It’s a 24-hour strike by security staff (Sicuritalia IVRI). It belongs neither to ENAV nor to an airline’s staff, so keep it separate from those two cases. Ministry register, entry 28 (checked on 11 October 2026).
• Calendars often mix up 2025 and 2026. Some list an ENAV strike on 14 November 2025 or a general strike on 28 November 2025. Those are 2025 dates, and they aren’t precedents for November 2026. We only use the 2026 entries in the register. Ministry register (checked on 11 October 2026).